Chanson d'Hiver
by GF-221b
Summary: Winter's Song. AU. When a certain American and Brit find a certain frozen Canadian with amnesia out in the snow, their worlds are flipped upside-down. America/Canada, France/England, & MANY other pairings. COMPLETE.
1. Prelude

~*~

Chapter One: Prelude

~*~

Alfred hated the snow. He thought it was great when it first started, but once maybe two, three hours into a normal snowstorm, he just wanted it to stop. This particular November it was no different. He was pretty sure even after the very _first_ Thanksgiving was over, it hadn't snowed on Plymouth rock. His roommate seemed to enjoy it, though. Arthur Kirkland was lying lazily on his red chair near the roaring fire, his lazy green eyes closed.

"Glad you can enjoy yourself when it looks like hell outside…" Alfred growled, pushing his glasses up his nose as his eyebrows furrowed.

"If you're looking for an argument, don't," the Brit replied, his tone nearing total nirvana. Alfred sighed and went back to his hatred for the snow.

A few minutes later, the kettle whistled in the kitchen, and Arthur was up on his feet and soon in the kitchen. He came back out with two cups of tea. Handing one to his American roommate, he sat back down in his chair and took a sip.

"It does NOT look like hell outside, Alfie," Arthur said, staring out the window. Yes, the snow was coming down in sheets, but it was nice, "After our tea, I think we should take a walk in it."

"_You_ are a nut job," Alfred replied, nearly spitting his tea out from what Arthur said.

"No… I am being sensible. So far this Thanksgiving you've done nothing but sit on your ass and eat left-over turkey. You _do_ know I affectionately call this holiday—" Arthur was cut off.

"Yeah, yeah, yeah. You call this holiday Fuck-Off-Puritan day and boycott it by drinking tea and eating your horrible shit-cakes you call scones," Alfred replied, a playful smile on his lips.

Arthur grinned and punched his roommate-and-best-friend-since-forever on his upper arm. "What I'm trying to say, really, is you need some exercise…"

"But it's so cooold~!" Alfred whined playfully.

"Builds character," Arthur replied, quick as a chess-clock thumper.

"Fine… but you owe be a kick-ass Christmas present," Alfred replied, taking another sip of his tea.

"Oh, I have a name for _that _holiday as well," the Brit replied.

"Is _that_ the holiday you call Drunken-Santa-Day?" Alfred asked.

"How dare you confuse with me Francis Bonnefoy…" Arthur growled.

Alfred gasped, "You said the devil's name!" he said, putting his tea down and getting up quickly, spinning himself around three times and pretending to spit over his right shoulder.

"That's the thing you do for people who say The Scottish Play's full name. When talking about that damned wine bastard, you sing that creepy French-Canadian tune…" Arthur said as he dipped his nose into his mug to take another sip.

"_Alouette_? I don't want to sing about plucking a bird…" Alfred replied, shuddering. He sat back down, "The French may be creepy, but those French-Canadians are creepier…"

"Hush, Alfred. Not all French-Canadians are creepy. That was just how they passed the time in the colonial times," Arthur replied.

"How many French-Canadians do you know, Arty?" Alfred asked, one eyebrow raising.

Arthur thought for a moment, "Well I know…" he paused once more, "That's not the point. My point is, don't make up assumptions about other people based on the past."

Alfred tucked his lower legs under his upper legs and put his hands together as if praying, "Thank you, honorable master," he said, faking a Japanese accent. Arthur kicked him as he stood, taking Alfred's empty mug and disappearing into the kitchen once more.

Arthur came back into the living room and went to the coat hanger by the door. He began putting on his coat and hat. Alfred got up and followed suit, and soon they were all bundled up and ready to face the storm outside. It wasn't really storming outside, though. The wind had died down, and the snow was coming down gently. Arthur opened the door and Alfred followed him out, shutting the door quietly on his way out.

~*~

Despite it's creepiness, the two English-speaking friends were singing a rousting verse of _Alouette_ as they almost pranced through the snow. The meadows outside their house were wonderful to look at, and as Alfred walked, he found himself liking the snow just a little more.

Arthur laughed as Alfred got the pronunciation of the French so-very-wrong. He wasn't partial to the French language, but he had been an A+ student back in high school, and this new form of French was making his ears bleed slightly. But he laughed it off. Soon, they started a new round of the song, this time talking about plucking out the feathers of the poor bird's tail. Suddenly, Arthur's foot felt something against it, and almost immediately, he stopped the song to take a look. It was a pair of black-rimmed glasses, almost like the ones on his American roommate's face.

"Alfred… do you randomly leave your glasses outside when I'm asleep?" Arthur asked as Alfred came over to him.

"If I do, then I must be sleepwalking. And I must be very warm-blooded only at night…" the American mused.

They suddenly heard a tiny moan from close to the site. Alfred looked over at the sight of the sound and gasped. _There was a tiny form in the snow!_ Alfred quickly hurried over, Arthur close behind. The boy had yellow hair, the color and texture of Alfred's. The length was slightly longer, but not much. He was wrapped in a coarse white blanket, which is why the other two hadn't noticed him. It looked like the blanket was the only thing the boy was wearing. The boy's eyes fluttered open slightly: a violet-blue blinked up at Alfred. The boy gasped slightly, and suddenly, he kissed Alfred squarely on the mouth before falling back into a frost-bitten sleep.

Alfred was taken aback, and his lips tingled from the other boy's kiss. His cheeks flushed, but he snapped out of his trance as Arthur picked the boy up slowly.

"We have to get him inside, Arthur, he's _delirious_ if he's kissing you…" Arthur managed to quip before hurrying back into the house he shared with the American.

Alfred grinned at Arthur's attempt at humor, "You're just jealous that he kissed _me_ and not you…" he replied loudly as he followed his British friend back into the house.

~*~

Arthur and Alfred were about to call the police when the young boy awoke once more. Looking around him with a panicked expression, the boy suddenly let a stream of fast French, none of which Arthur could translate without making the boy go back and say everything in a slow tone.

"Shit. He's French," Arthur quipped once the boy had stopped, looking over at his American roommate warily.

"Don't look at me… at least ask him if he wants some tea…" Alfred said as the boy looked at him expectantly.

"Uhhh… okay. _Garcon… Tu veux un th__é__?_" Arthur asked the boy awkwardly.

"_Oui, monsieur_!" the boy chirped, his voice cracked from the cold.

Arthur nodded and left Alfred to watch the boy. Alfred had learned very little French in high school, choosing, instead, to goof around and generally wreak havoc. He seemed to remember some stuff that Arthur had taught him.

"_Je m'appelle Alfred Jones. Et toi, comment t'appelles tu_?" he asked, butchering a few words, but the young boy seemed to understand.

"_Je m'appelle… Je m'appelle…"_ he paused. Arthur came in with the glasses. The young blond finally saw them and nodded, taking them and placing them onto his face.

"_Merci beaucoup, monsieur, J'ai pensé que j'étais aveugle…_"

Arthur and Alfred stared at each other for a moment before Arthur sucked in some air. "I think I have to call… _him_."

"Oh no… we're not thinking about the same person who knows French better than either of us put together, were you?" Alfred asked, sharp as a tack.

Arthur couldn't help but inject a little more humor, "No… I thought he spoke Russian as I was just about to call Ivan… of course I have to call _Francis_…"

Alfred laughed as Arthur went back into the kitchen where the phone was. He once again looked at the blond boy, who was scratching the back of his head. Something silver flashed in the older blond's eye, and he was over at the other boy's side in a moment. The other boy didn't struggle as Alfred glanced at the thing around his wrist. It was a silver bracelet, much like a girl would wear, with the word "Matthew" written in cursive script.

Arthur came in, a tea tray in his hands and the phone crooked in between his head and his shoulder. "Shut up, you damn wine bastard. This is _not_ a booty call. I actually have a boy I found in the snow here. He only speaks _French_, and you're the only man I know who speaks the language _fluently_…"

Alfred pointed to the bracelet and Arthur's bushy eyebrows raised, "Well, all we really know, besides the fact that he can only speak French is… he's an amnesiac, you bloody twit. No… we think his name is Matthew…" Arthur winced as Francis obviously shouted something on the other end. "Well… he's… he's wearing a bracelet with the name on it."

He handed the lone cup of tea on the tray to the newly christened Matthew as he listened to the other man at the other end. Finally, Arthur turned off the phone and sighed into his chair as he wearily dropped into it.

"Is the devil coming to take our souls?" Alfred asked.

"To put it into his own language, _oui_."

~*~

"Alfred~! Arthur~! _Mon chers_, how nice to see you!" Francis yelled as Alfred opened the door for him. Matthew was at once up (though his lower half was covered still by the white blanket) as the Frenchman spoke in his language to the two English-speaking men.

"_Bonjour, monsieur, est-ce que tu peux parler francais?_" Matthew asked shyly.

"_Bien sur, un petit garcon. Je suis francais~!_"

Matthew clapped happily and spouted some more French. Francis listened with an intent ear as he spoke, confusion setting in. When the boy was done babbling, Francis put his finger up, "He's speaking Quebecois."

"What does that mean?" Alfred asked, generally confused.

"It means he's French-_Canadian_, Alfred," Arthur replied, patting his friend's back.

"What? You finally know a French-Canadian?" Alfred asked after a few minutes.

"What is this babble you speak?" Francis asked, crossing his arms over his chest.

"What have you learned from Matthew, Francis?" Arthur spat back.

"That he has no more information about himself other than his name: _Mathieu_, and the fact that he thinks that both of you are very warm people for bringing him into your home," Francis sighed, making the two others feel like he was telling their secrets, as Francis was wont to make them feel.

"So… he has no other home that we know of?" Alfred asked, thinking. Arthur was getting a bad feeling about where this was going.

"_Non,_"Francis replied.

"Then… _we_ should keep him here!" Alfred said, posing with his legs slightly apart and his hands on his hips.

Arthur scoffed, "No. He doesn't speak English. He should live with Francis…"

Alfred raised an eyebrow at Arthur, then at Francis. His eyebrows furrowed at the idea, "I'll teach him English…"

"No… we cannot keep him. He has to go somewhere where he'll feel welcome. A French household is the only good place for him," Arthur replied, trying to lay down some ground rules.

"Come on, Arthur. We were the first people he saw… can we please? I'll take really good care of him!" Alfred pushed, a whine gracing his tone.

Francis leaned down to Matthew and whispered, "_Je suis désolé que vous soyez soudainement transformé en chien, Mathieu_."

"_C'est vrai?_" Matthew asked, his head crooking to the side.

"_Oui… Tiens!_" Francis replied, pointing at the two English-speaking men.

"Fine… he can stay here. But promise you'll teach him to speak English?" Arthur was saying.

"I will!" Alfred said, breaking his pose.

Arthur stopped him from hugging him, "AND… you'll make sure he gets everything he needs. Get him a job, get him food… and for God's sake, get him some clothes before you do the former two!"

Alfred had already swept his roommate into a painful hug by that time, but Arthur stood his ground. Francis chuckled and patted the young French-Canadian on the back before walking back to the door. "I'll be leaving now. See you at work on Monday, then?"

"Yes. And thank you, Francis. You've helped us uncover a little more about the little one over there…" Arthur said, being polite and walking to the door to see his coworker off.

Francis biffed Arthur under the chin and grinned seductively before he purred, "See you soon, Arty~" His face and voice changed as he found Matthew once more. He smiled sweetly at the young blond and waved, "_A plus tard, Mathieu!_"

And with that, the Frenchman was out the door and the three were left alone. Arthur looked at the confused Canadian and said something in French to him. Matthew nodded, thanking him with a nod of his head. Arthur then continued explaining in the best French he could, pointing to Alfred a couple of times.

"All right… I want you to go up to my room, Alfred. Find something for Matthew to wear, and begin his lessons…" Arthur said, turning to his easily excitable friend.

"Do I have to, Arthur?" Alfred whined playfully.

"Do it now, Alfred, or I'm calling Francis back over to take Matthew away!" Arthur replied, a serious undertone to his playful comeback.

Alfred nearly whimpered as he moved to the stairway, biffing Matthew lightly under the chin before he did so, "I'll be right back, Mattie~"

And Matthew simply looked to Arthur and cried, "_C'est vrai! C'est vrai! Je me suis soudainement transformé en chien!_"

~*~

Translations from French: (in order)

"Boy, do you want some tea?"

"Yes, sir!"

"I'm Alfred Jones. And you, what's your name?"

"I am… I am…"

"Thank you very much, sir, I thought I was blind…"

"Hello, sir, can you speak French?"

"Of course, little boy. I'm French~!"

"I'm sorry you've suddenly turned into a dog…"

"Is that true?"

"Yes, look!"

"See you later, Matthew!"

"It is true! I have turned into a dog all of the sudden!"

~*~

_There. Here's to a life after _My Junk_. I think I really like all the relationships that are going to happen into this one. Some cracky stuff, but before I make everything all happy-happy, there's going to be some: Ludwig/Arthur, Feliciano/Francis (one-sided) and some Lovino/Matthew. Then it's probably going to end in the pairings I mentioned in the summary... and then some. We'll see, non?_

_**Please review, and I'll finish **_My Junk**_ faster so I can update~_**

_Ciao~_

_~Ana~  
_


	2. Snow Child

~*~

Chapter Two: Snow Child

~*~

Arthur was very happy with the choice of keeping the young French-Canadian. Matthew must've known English before contracting amnesia, because he learned the language fast from both Alfred and himself. His accent, though, reminded him a little too much of one Frenchman who was starting to get on his nerves with his incessant calling.

One morning, two days after their finding of the Canadian, it was time for the two English-speaking men to go back to work. Arthur and Alfred whispering to each other in the kitchen rousted Matthew earlier than usual. Matthew padded quietly into the kitchen, his new pajamas, thankfully, covering what clothing usually hid.

"I'll ask Ludwig if I can leave early to find Matthew a job…" Alfred was saying, an empty bowl in front of him.

"That's a bad idea!" Arthur replied, slamming down his half-emptied cup of tea, "Ludwig would never allow it. He runs that café like an army barracks!"

"I know… but—" Alfred finally noticed the younger blond in the doorway, "G'morning, Matthew…"

"Good morning, Alfred," Matthew replied, taking a seat next to Arthur, "What were you discussing?"

"We have to go back to work today… and we need to find something for you to do while we're there…" Arthur replied.

"Will this… this Ludwig person allow you to do that?" Matthew asked slowly, still finding his words.

"I hope so," Alfred said, ruffling the boy's hair like a proud parent.

~*~

"No," one Ludwig Bellschmidt shouted in the American's direction, "You are our best cook, and I can't just let you go like that…"

"But Ludwig… do you want this one to go with Francis, for Christ's sake!" Alfred shouted.

"Aw~ Come on, Ludwig. Let him go!" a small brunette said. He was carrying a rather large bin of cups under one of his arms. An almost mirror image of this one was on the other side of the popular café, looking over at the group near the counter. Alfred's blond boss thought for a moment but shook his head once more, "No. You're too valuable to lose so early in the day!"

The brunette sighed and pushed his way behind the counter to wash the dishes. "Thanks for trying, Feliciano~" Alfred called after him. He turned back to Ludwig and beckoned Matthew forward, "Look at him, Ludwig… he can't stay home by himself, and _I_ need to know that he's in good hands… besides, Arthur keeps threatening that he'll send Mattie over to Francis's if I can't find him a job…"

"Ummm… that sounds like you're taking care of a _dog_ and not an _amnesiac_, you know…" Feliciano's mirror image said, coming up in the path of the three blondes. Looking closer, one could see that this boy's hair was darker than the other's, and his eyes were about the same shade of darkness as his hair.

"_That_ is what I said, Lovino-_cher_," a familiar lilt said from behind Alfred and Matthew.

Lovino grimaced at the Frenchman and moved his way behind the counter. Francis grinned up the taller German man, "Oh, Ludwig~ Give these boys a break. Poor _Mathieu_ was found all alone in a snowstorm, and Arty and Alfie were kind enough to let him into their home…"

Ludwig, even though he looked stoic, could not resist the charm of the Frenchman. He could join a club, actually. He sighed weakly and turned to Lovino and Feliciano, who had returned from the kitchen, "Do you think you guys could take him under your wings?"

Alfred suddenly hugged the other in a tight bearhug. Matthew was pushed into Lovino's arms, causing both to blush madly. At that point, Arthur ran out from the kitchen, "Guys! Lunch rush! Alfred, Ludwig, back to your stations!"

Ludwig glared at Arthur, and Arthur shrank back, "Right. Arthur, Francis, get to the tables to greet people. Lovino, Feliciano, restock the cups in the cupboards and look out for Matthew!"

The workers saluted and got to work, Lovino and Matthew the last to get moving, as they were still blushing madly. But that stopped soon, as Feliciano handed his brother about a third of the cups in his hands. He handed another third to Matthew, who accepted it graciously. Let the work begin!

~*~

Matthew was a very astute young man. He watched his new coworkers with awe as they worked. Matthew himself worked hard to catch up in his abilities as busboy. He was still flustered around Lovino, which was an odd feeling, completely new to him, it seemed. But the others fascinated him more.

He liked Francis. Not only because he could speak French, and would rather converse with the French-Canadian in the beautiful tongue, but also because of the charisma he had at work and with his coworkers. He seemed to be able to wrap everyone there around his finger, but he never really did. The only time Matthew had seen the Frenchman do something like that was with Ludwig to get Matthew the job at the Café Rose. Every time, though, he looked at Feliciano or spoke to the small Italian (wherever _Italy_ was), the boy would blush crimson and either walk away or begin to babble. To which Ludwig would drag the babbling brunette back to the kitchen.

Ludwig was a sight, too, when around Feliciano. Though the German man was stoic and strong, Matthew saw his defenses drop around the young Italian. Matthew wondered if Ludwig would be angry or sad that Feliciano had feelings for Francis and not him. Not like anything could happen between the Italian and the Frenchman _anyway_… Francis seemed too interested in Arthur to care about the feelings of _l'amour_ that his young coworker had for him. Arthur, on the other hand, seemed to flush around Ludwig more often than not.

_That's complicated_… the French-Canadian thought as he wiped down a recently deserted table.

And where were Lovino and Alfred in this mix? Well… Alfred seemed to not like anyone there, and Lovino…?

_Oh, Lovino_. The adopted brother of Feliciano was beginning to grow on the French-Canadian's mind a little more every minute they were in each other's company. Lovino seemed to like him back, since he was always flushing and at a loss for words around the blond boy.

As Matthew took another glance around the café once more, he smiled. He was glad he was around such warm people, and even if most of them were being idiots about the ones they loved, he felt that one day, it would all turn out okay.

"_Mathieu_! We need more menus from the back! Can you get some, _s'il te plait?_" Francis asked, breaking him out of his thought process.

"_Mais oui, Francois! _Right away!" Matthew called, running behind the counter.

As Matthew grabbed the stack of menus from the counter, he hoped that one day, all his new friends would be happy and together, both in romance and in friendship.

~*~

Translations from French:

_S'il te plait_ – "Please"

_Mais oui, Francois_ – "Of course, Francis"

~*~

_Yey! A second chapter! Okay... here's the deal with this one. It is going to be a big fat mystery set in the winter. Ivan will appear as the main bad guy, and there are SO MANY PAIRINGS. from one-sided little jaunts to big past affairs, this thing is going to blow your minds into the 22nd century. And I apologize. As I was plotting this thing out, it went from fluffy drama to HOLY COW SO MUCH DRAMA I'M DROWING HELP MEEEE (TASUKETE, DOITSU~!)_

_Anyway. What's this? Lovino and Feliciano are _adopted_ brothers? This will be important later. As will several relationships. And Matthew's past. HOLY CRAPMONKIES. Epis stuff ahead, folks.  
_

_You'll just have to read on, mon chers._

_**Please review, prego e grazie! **_

_Ciao~!_

_~Anastasie~  
_


	3. Lovestruck

~*~

Chapter Three: Lovestruck

~*~

Alfred touched his lips once more. Ever since the meeting of Matthew in the snow (when the boy had _kissed_ him, for God's sake), he had absentmindedly felt the boy's lips against his own every once and a while. Not that anyone noticed when he touched his own lips with his fingertips.

He was feeling something for the other blonde, that was for sure. Alfred sometimes felt himself drifting into daydreams about Matthew: his violet-blue eyes, his smile, and most of all his laughter as he and his other busboy coworkers worked together. Matthew was very good friends with both the brothers now, getting up the nerve to visit Feliciano one night. (Lovino had moved out ages ago, apparently.) Something unnerved him, though, about Lovino and Matthew. Lovino was very much like Arthur, in a way: tough on the outside, affectionate and loving on the inside. Alfred looked over longingly as, speak of the devil, Lovino helped Matthew up when he slipped.

"Ve~ Sorry, Mattie… I forgot to put up the 'Caution: Wet Floor' sign…"

"_D'accord_, Feli, really!" the small blond replied, putting a hand behind his head with an embarrassed blush as the other Italian helped him up. Alfred was snapped out of his head by Ludwig's sharp karate chop to his back.

"Oww~ knock the wind right outta me, why dontcha?" Alfred asked, glaring playfully at his partner in cooking.

"Why _don't_ I, you lazy ass," Ludwig replied, handing the other a spatula, "Pull your weight, or I'm going to tell Arthur that Matt needs to go live with Francis…"

"Not you, too, Ludwig," Alfred whined, but he went to the stove and began cracking some eggs.

~*~

"Francis… you know about love, don't you?" Alfred asked of the Frenchman.

"_Mais oui,_ Alfie-_cher_, I am French, _non_?" Francis asked, his voice soothing. If Alfred wasn't careful, he would fall under Francis's spell, and God-knows-what would happen next…

"I… well… when Mattie and I met… he… umm… he…"

"Kissed you? Lucky thing, Alfie…" Francis finished, winking, "Arty told me while we were working a few days ago, when Mattie joined our ranks. Said he was pretty _delirious_ if he was kissing _you_…" Francis laughed.

Chuckling, the American replied with, "Oh… he told you already…"

"Not saying you wouldn't be a _pleasure_ to kiss, Alfie _mon cher_," Francis purred. Alfred took a step back, and Francis simply waved the utterance off, "What's on your mind, Alfie-_cher_? Unless…" the Frenchman paused and his eyes widened almost sadly, "_Non…_ it can't be… _tres mal, mon cher… tres, __tres__ mal!_"

"What?" Alfred asked, knowing the tone of voice if not understanding the language spoken.

"You don't… You're not in love with _le petit Mathieu_, are you?" Francis asked, his voice lowering, just in case the violet-eyed boy was listening. He was busy spraying the dishes while Feliciano loaded the dish-washer beside him.

"I'm not… I'm not saying its _love_, Francis…" Alfred replied, putting a large hand over his mouth to hide the blush that was creeping it's way over his cheeks and nose, "But… it's _something_…"

"Alfie… _mon cher_… I heard from Ludwig, who overheard Feliciano and Lovino talking about it… and Lovino's going to ask Matthew out… _aujourd'hui_."

Alfred blinked, "When?!"

Francis had forgotten that he was talking to an American, "Uhh… I just said. _Today_… in fact, there he goes…" Francis replied, pointing.

Alfred watched in almost-horror as Lovino breathed in and made his way across the café. The Italian gently tapped the French-Canadian on his shoulder and lead him a little ways from his adopted brother.

"I'm sorry, Alfie… but _monsieur Romano_ got there first…" Francis said sadly.

Arthur suddenly burst from the back, almost crying. He stormed past Francis and Alfred, yelling behind him: "I'm walking home, Alfred. See you later!"

Alfred went wide-eyed. Arthur had come from the kitchen, so Alfred went in there, mostly to get away from the scene in front of him: Matthew was blushing as he moved a section of his blonde hair behind his ear shyly as he (Alfred assumed) said yes to the almost trembling Lovino.

He found Ludwig next to the stove, checking the knobs to see if they were truly off. "What was that?"

"What was what?" the man before Alfred asked.

"Arty. He stormed out of the kitchen to _walk_ home in a _snowstorm_…" Alfred replied coldly. He was very protective of his friends when it came to it.

"I might have said no to him when he asked me out…" Ludwig replied after a moment, staring too intently at the stove as he spoke.

"What the _fuck_ is your problem, Ludwig. Arthur's a sweet guy once you get to know him. And you _do_ know him! He may look and act tough… but all he ever wanted since coming to work for you was for you to take that stick out of your ass and get to know him!" Alfred knew that he might regret saying all this later, but he was too mad to stop, "What's more, now I have to go to the store and get ice cream and tea for the poor guy! _Fuck_, Ludwig!"

Ludwig went wide-eyed for a moment, but he said nothing until: "There's someone else…"

Alfred felt like shit after a moment. "Who… so I can explain to Arthur…"

"No. Don't tell Arthur. And if you do get a chance to talk to him… apologize for me…" Ludwig said awkwardly. He put an arm over his stomach to grip his other arm.

"At least tell me who… they… are…?"

"It's Feli…" Ludwig replied, his voice barely above a whisper.

Alfred looked out the window to the rest of the café. Francis had asked the young Italian to do something, and the other was blushing madly and babbling again. Lovino sighed as he awkwardly kissed Matthew on the forehead and went to 'save' Feliciano from himself… _again_…

"I… I hate to tell you, Ludwig… but that kid's head-over-heels with Francis…" Alfred told his boss.

Alfred turned back to Ludwig and saw that the German's face was darkening with red. "I know…" he finally said.

Alfred let the silence slip over them like a wet blanket: unpleasant, and kind of damp. Sighing, he went to leave, but not before glancing over his shoulder at his cooking companion, "Just… think about it for me, okay? Arthur would be forever grateful if you at least gave him a chance…"

Without getting an answer, Alfred left the kitchen, breezing past Feliciano and Lovino to grab Matthew's hand and lead him out into the parking lot and, ultimately, into his car.

~*~

"Arthur! Arty! OI! KIRKLAND!" Alfred yelled once he and Matthew got into the house.

Arthur had taken over the couch since Matthew had been moved to the guest room, where he ultimately had made it his own. Arthur looked up from a wet pillow to his housemates.

"I made a tea-and-ice-cream run, just for you, Arty~" Alfred said.

Arthur simply nodded and went back to the head-in-pillow pose he had been in. Matthew went to the couch and placed his hand on the Brit's back. He then cuddled up to Arthur and began speaking to him in quiet French, soothing words or maybe insults, they all sounded the same to Alfred. (Though he seriously doubted the sweet French-Canadian would insult the heartbroken Brit.)

"I'll… I'll just put the ice cream in the fridge… tell me when you need it," Alfred said, feeling like he had just walked in on his parents or something.

He went into the kitchen and put the ice cream into the fridge. Looking out the window, he knew that it probably wouldn't help that the ice cream was as cold as the weather outside, but it was usually what Arthur wanted after getting his heart broken.

The phone suddenly rang, prying Alfred's eyes away from the snow (_Matthew was found in the snow…_) and back to reality. He picked up the phone, ready to beat down a telemarketer or something like that. Boy was he surprised to hear Ludwig.

"Alfred… can I… _may I_ speak to Arthur?" the German asked.

"Sure…" Alfred said, a smile playing on his lips. He walked back into the living room. Placing a hand on Matthew's back, he whispered, "Arty… phone for you…"

"Tell them I'm not home," Arthur murmured into the pillow.

Alfred chuckled, "I'm sorry, _Ludwig_, but—"

Arthur jumped up, knocking Matthew gently off the couch, and grabbed the phone, "Hi, Ludwig. Don't listen to that git…" he walked briskly up the stairs to his room and slammed the door shut like a teenager getting a phone call instead of a grown man.

Alfred chuckled and helped Matthew up, "Looks like _we'll_ be the sad losers eating that ice cream, huh?" he asked.

Not really knowing what he was saying, Matthew replied, quite innocently: "No… just you, Alfred. I've a got a date tomorrow night~"

Alfred felt like an arrow had been thrust through his heart. But it was true. Everyone was getting paired off except him. Matthew realized what he had said and put a hand over his mouth, "No I… I'm sorry, Alfred…"

"No… no worries, Mattie. I'll… yeah. Eat ice cream and maybe… watch a movie or something…" Alfred replied, moving toward the staircase slowly. Matthew watched him like a hurt puppy, but soon Alfred had bolted up the steps into _his_ room, slamming the door shut. The French-Canadian sighed and took the phone back to the kitchen before going to his room, thoroughly confused.

~*~

Translations from French:

_D'accord_ – "Okay" or "It's okay" in this case.

_Mais oui_ – "Of course"

_Tres mal, mon cher, tres __tres__ mal! _– "(This) is very bad, my dear, very, _very_ bad!"

_Le petit Mathieu_ – "little Matthew"

_Aujourd'hui_ – "today"

~*~

_A few notes: since Lovino and Feliciano are adopted brothers, I've given Lovino the full name Lovino Romano, since 'Romano' is a popular last name in Sicily, apparently. Again, this is _tres important_, for later._

_Other than that, all the people only have the heritages of their respective countries, except Matthew and Francis, because they're special (and I'm biased). I think Arthur probably picked up the accent and language from his visits to family in London, but otherwise, still a heritage thing. If anyone can help me with a (good) name for the city they live in, that would be great. I was thinking of Monde (M-oh-nn-d... for phonetics sake) for the city where Matthew and the rest live, and Fou (Foo... again, pronunciation points) for... well... you'll see in Chapter Six, won't you? But any other ideas would be _tres beau_. I may not use them... but... yeah. Comment whore._

_Moving on. **Please review and stuff**~_

_Ciao~_

_~Anastasie~  
_


	4. Tea and Cookies

~*~

Chapter Four: Tea and Cookies

~*~

Dinner was a little lonely for Alfred that night, both with Ludwig and Arthur out, but also with Matthew and Lovino gone. Alfred was at home, watching _Gilmore Girls_ (oh, come off it. Arthur and Matthew were the only ones that knew that he _adored_ the show), and eating the ice cream that was originally for Arthur, but if things were right in the world, then the Brit wouldn't be needing the double vanilla treat.

Suddenly, the American heard a car drive up, and he found himself turning off the television, even though Matthew or Arthur would come in and… there was another car right after the first one. What a coincidence that both of Alfred's housemates would come home at the same time, or maybe something happened to make them both come home. Alfred didn't really think about any of this, as he was busy hiding all evidence that he had been being quite a girl about the whole dating thing.

The door opened as Alfred was putting away the half-eaten tub of ice cream and he heard the four voices of the two couples. Arthur was speaking, "No, no… we can try again, Ludwig. Matthew won't be sick forever…"

"Mattie… I'm so sorry…" Lovino almost whined.

Alfred peeked around the door, feeling a bit like a creeper as he did so.

"Don't be, Lovi"—it sickened Alfred to hear Mattie's accent, as 'Lovi' in Mattie-accent sounded like 'love'—"I should've followed the signs that I was sick…"

"Hey Ludwig, I know this sounds off, but can I stay home tomorrow and take care of Mattie?"

Ludwig tensed, but Arthur was staring at him, and for some odd reason, the German man was blushing as he noticed it.

"No… I'll be fine, Arty, really…" Matthew said, trying to save everyone the trouble.

Alfred was egging the conversation to end so that he could tease Arthur, but thought better of it. Instead, he played his signature hero card and walked into the room, "I'll be at work tomorrow, Ludwig. If you need it, I can wait tables…"

Ludwig thought about it for a half-second before nodding, "All right, Alfred. Arthur, you stay home with Matt. That way, Matt can get better more quickly, and you _both_ can come back to work soon."

Alfred noticed that Ludwig seemed softer. Maybe in the two hours Ludwig and Arthur had been gone, the Brit had managed to pull the damn stick out of his ass… though that sounded just a bit… _kinky_. Alfred shook off the thought and grinned at Ludwig.

Lovino took Matthew's hand and put the other hand on his forehead, "Ai~ Better get to bed, Mattie… You'll probably be seeing me tomorrow with dinner or something, okay?" the Sicilian asked.

Matthew blushed and nodded, "Promise?"

"Promise. Any chance to save you from Arthur's cooking is a done deal," Lovino replied, laughing.

Arthur simply glared at him, but Ludwig had suddenly kissed his brow. Arthur blushed crimson at the gesture from the German man, but he turned his gaze from Lovino to Ludwig.

"I'm off. Gilbert will have probably used up our phone budget calling family about the fact that I had a date tonight…" Ludwig announced a little awkwardly. He squeezed Arthur's hand and waved over his shoulder as he left the house.

Arthur went to follow him, but Alfred grabbed his shirt-sleeve. So Arthur yelled out, "We'll try this again, okay? Call me!"

Lovino smiled and patted Matthew's head, "I'll see you tomorrow, 'kay Mattie?"

Matthew nodded, knowing Lovino wouldn't want to touch him again because he was sick. Instead, he watched his date leave the house. Then he turned to Arthur, "You don't have to stay home because of me, you know."

"Don't get snippy with me, young man," Arthur replied, "I'm staying home and your going to get over it."

Matthew blanched, and then walked briskly to his room, slamming the door.

Arthur looked at Alfred before saying, "And lemme guess… you were stuck at home watching _Gilmore Girls_ and eating _my_ tub of ice cream, weren't you?"

It was Alfred's turn to make his way to his room, "Don't rat on _Gilmore Girls_, buddy," he said calmly.

"You didn't even call that boy you're kind of on-again, off-again with? What's his name? Yao Wang? Chinese? Really hot?" Arthur called from the bottom of the stairs.

"Hey, I was with two very witty girls tonight. Their names are Lorelei and Rory, and we had some good times in the past…" Alfred called from the top of the stairs.

"Alfred… you're talking about two fictional characters here… you need to seek out some help. I will call Yao in the morning and make him have coffee at the Café Rose just so you can see him~"

"You are not setting me up on a pity date, Master Kirkland…" Alfred yelled.

"I think I am, Master Jones…" Arthur replied.

"No means no, you bloody Brit…" Alfred sighed.

"Fine. But I am _not_ going to refer to you as my husband at your funeral when you die a lonely old man…" Arthur called, finally following his friend up the stairs.

"But… what else are you going to do?" Alfred asked, acting hurt.

"With any luck, I'll be dead by then," the other said. "At least _think_ about calling someone? Eliza's on the market, I think…"

"The divorce hasn't been finalized. Besides, wasn't the whole point of her divorce from Roddy to be with Gilbert?"

"Oh yeah," Arthur replied, remembering suddenly. "Well, there's always Vash…"

"The guy with the gun kink? No thank you. I'd date Francis before I'd date Vash," Alfred replied, getting to his room and resting a hand on the door-frame.

"Then I'll talk to Francis—"

"Hell no, you twit," Alfred said, cutting him off. "Can you just leave it alone?"

Arthur sighed, "Fine…" he looked sadly into his room for a brief moment. Alfred knew what he was doing: Guilt-tripping the American. "I hope you know that I wanted to have a double wedding with you and _your_ significant other…"

"Oh, shit, man, you are not doing this…"

"We'd all be wearing white… and if you married a girl, _I'd_ walk her down the aisle, because I know I'm probably going to be pimped into being the woman, if I marry a man. If I married a woman, well, they'd walk down the isle and we'd look at them adoringly… unless you married man, and then there would be some complications. But white. We'd all be in white… and there would be lilies and—"

"Go call Yao…" Alfred said, and shut himself in his room.

~*~

Matthew awoke to the sound of a wind-storm outside his door… and the smell of black tea and toast. There was a tray next to his bed, and a sleeping Arthur in the armchair across from his bed. Matthew looked at the digital clock by his bed: the red numbers read 12:20.

"_Merde._" Matthew breathed, pulling himself up.

The sudden French swear woke the sleeping Brit at the Canadian's feet. Arthur blinked as Matthew came into focus for him, "_Matin…_" he said.

"_Non. L'apres-midi_." Matthew replied.

Arthur looked at the clock and smiled, "So it is…" he mused.

Matthew touched the food and found it was still warm, "Are you sure _you're_ not the sick one, Arthur?" he asked, knowing that the Brit would have to fall asleep pretty quick if the food was still warm.

"No. Just tired."

"Why? I was definitely still conscious when I saw Ludwig leave, right?" Matthew asked, almost purring as he made his joke.

"I think you've been spending _way_ too much time around Francis, Mattie…" Arthur replied, "Eat, then I'll let you have some of the cookies Alfie made."

"Did you just say Alfie in the context of making cookies?" Matthew asked after a few minutes of faux-stunned silence.

"Yes. And now I'm going to say that I'm taking over his stash of _Gilmore Girls_ DVDs and we're watching them all afternoon…"

"Oh, _Dieu_," Matthew replied, rolling his eyes, "Are we a bunch of girls or what?"

"Real men watch _Gilmore Girls_, my dear Mattie," Arthur replied.

Matthew sighed and began to eat the toast, which was surprisingly good (for the Englishman's cooking… or what Matthew had heard of it, at least). He finished the toast and began sipping at the tea, which was disgustingly lukewarm. "Ew."

"Lukewarm?" Arthur asked knowingly.

Matthew nodded and Arthur beckoned for him to get out of bed and follow him. Which the French-Canadian did, happy to get out of the bed and into some new(ish) scenery.

Once in the kitchen, Arthur began making a new pot of tea. Matthew sat on one of the stools on an island in the middle of the kitchen/dining area. He was mulling over several questions he wanted to ask Arthur when suddenly… one just came out:

"Do you love Ludwig?"

Arthur looked up from the teapot he was setting up with tea leaves and such. Blushing, he answered, "I… I'm not sure. I _have_ liked him more than a friend for a while… why?"

"I… I don't know. I… I still don't remember what _l'amour_ feels like… so I wanted to observe people in love. I guess you can't really help me until… until you know…"

The kettle whistled, and Arthur hurried to transfer the hot water into the teapot. As he worked, he thought. There _had_ been someone…

"I know what love _feels_ like…" Arthur said, pouring the tea into Matthew's emptied cup.

Matthew looked up at him with his big violet eyes and Arthur blushed, "It might not have been real love… but it… it felt like butterflies had been let lose into my stomach… and I couldn't stop thinking about that person. But I was, what, five-years-old?" Arthur laughed as he set a cup of tea in front of Matthew. "What did I know?"

They drank their tea in silence, and once they were done, Arthur took the cups to the sink and walked out to the living room. Matthew followed after a few moments, and found Arthur on the couch, the remote in his hands and blanket over his legs. Matthew looked out the window at the snowstorm and smiled. He climbed next to his housemate and saw the menu for _Gilmore Girls_.

"I _swear_ if Luke and Lorelai don't get together, I'm going to call the writers and voice my disappointment…" Arthur grumbled as he found the episode he wanted and pressed 'enter.'

Matthew scoffed and settled down under the blanket.

~*~

After a few hours of _Gilmore Girls_, Matthew was waiting for Arthur to come back to sit as he switched the old DVD with a new one (because the episodes were only four to a DVD).

"Hey… isn't Alfred supposed to be home by now?"

Arthur looked at the digital clock on the television.

"_Oui_… he'll be here soon, though. His on-again, off-again boyfriend came to pick him up. I kind of called him last night about it. Alfred was _not_ happy about it… they were off-again, apparently…" Arthur replied.

Matthew nodded and laid his head on Arthur's shoulder. Arthur fiddled with the remote for a minute before finding the episode menu. Matthew glanced up at Arthur.

"I think I love Lovino…" he said suddenly, smiling.

Arthur glanced back down at him and smiled, "That's… that's wonderful…"

~*~

It was too weird. Alfred would not call Yao to take him home. The car ride to the café had been all polite and… _weird_ for both the Chinese man and the American. So he walked home from work, despite Francis's pleading calls for him to get a ride with him and Ludwig. (Francis refused to drive himself these days.) Alfred had declined… and had walked home in the stupid snow-storm.

So, frozen (despite his warm coat, gloves, hat and scarf) and feeling stupid for walking home in the first place was how Alfred had felt walking up his driveway. As he was fiddling in his jacket for his keys, he over heard from inside the music of the _Gilmore Girls_ menu, and… Matthew's voice:

"I think I love Lovino…"

And then Arthur said something in response, but Alfred didn't catch it, as his heart had sky-rocketing through his chest into his throat. He managed to choke, quietly: "_Ou es ton coeur, Mathieu? Ou es ton coeur…?_"

At that moment his keys appeared to his hand, and he unlocked the door. Matthew and Arthur looked up at him. Arthur smiled and jumped up, hugging his friend and kissing his cheek, "_Mon cher_~ You're finally home!"

But Alfred didn't want to trade wits with Arthur. He glanced over at Matthew and then turned away, making his way up the stairs and into his room, slamming the door behind him.

He heard Arthur call up, "Is that anyway to treat your family, _mon tresore_?" he yelled, "What about our darling son?!"

Alfred said nothing, just began the difficult business of sulking like a wronged teenager.

"Give it up, Arthur," he heard Matthew say, "Alfred doesn't want to be your husband right now… besides, you'd be kind of unfaithful anyway, what with your date with Ludwig last night~"

"Good point. He probably found out about that and id angry with me…"

Matthew chuckled, making Alfred's heart beat faster as he listened.

"Anyway… let's get back to our visit with Stars Hollow, shall we?"

But Alfred had turned on his stereo, and so he didn't hear the goings on in the fictional town of his favorite show. And as the sounds of Will Dailey reached his ears, he reached for the phone. After dialing, he put the phone to his ear and waited for the other person to pick up.

"Hello, Yao speaking…"

"Hey, Yao. It's Alfred… sorry about this morning… how about we get coffee sometime on Saturday afternoon?"

~*~

Translations from French:

_Merde_ – "Shit"

_Matin_ – "Morning."

_Non. L'apres-midi_ – "No. Afternoon."

_Ou es ton coeur, Mathieu? Ou es ton coeur…?_ – "Where is your heart, Matthew, where is your heart?"

_Mon tresore_ – "My treasure"

~*~

_... Both Arthur and Alfred seem to act like grown-up teenagers in this one. Yay for men not acting their age, right?_

_And yes, Yao makes an appearnce in this one. Though only as a plot-device, and I apologize profusely. _

_And _Gilmore Girls_. It has become my favorite show, and so... well, someone besides Francis and Feliks had to be somewhat feminine in this one. So Alfred and Arthur are... interesting characters to play around with. If you haven't watched the show... I think you should go and buy the first season... like now. **But please review before you do~**_

_Ciao~_

_~Anastasie~  
_


	5. Ukrainian Eggs

~*~

Chapter Five: Ukrainian Eggs

~*~

Christmas was approaching. And fast. Too fast for Arthur, who had just come inside from getting the mail, and he looked accosted by the large stack of catalogues in his arms.

"Alfred… I hate your obsession with Christmas…" he growled to the American.

"And I hate _your_ obsession with making me scones on my birthday," Alfred replied. His come-back only resulted in a death glare from his house mate, which made the temperature colder than the snow outside. "Who said that…? Mattie, shame on you…"

"No pulling me into this conversation, Alfred," Matthew replied, setting down the paper. He looked up at Arthur and immediately jumped up to take a few of the catalogues from him. The picture on the cover of the first catalogue in his stack made him pause as he moved to the counter where Alfred was sitting. It was of a pretty young girl holding a decorated egg. "This isn't a Christmas craft…" he said quietly, pointing.

Alfred and Arthur looked at each other. They hadn't remembered ever telling the French-Canadian that the craft (Ukrainian eggs) were actually a spring craft… _Matthew had remembered something from his past life_…

"Yeah… but other people don't know about that… you want to try it? It looks fun," Alfred said, trying to prompt the other into remembering. He was curious about the French-Canadian's life before the amnesia thing happened.

"S-Sure… but it'll take us a while to have it come once its ordered…" Matthew pointed out.

Alfred thought about it, "Actually… I think Yao has something like this at his shop…" he looked at the catalogue and blushed, "Yeah… it's Yao's shop's catalogue… I'll go… I'll go get it…"

"Bring protection," Arthur called as the American left the kitchen.

Matthew nearly did a spit take with the water he gotten from the sink, and he distantly saw the American flip his British housemate off as he got his coat, hat, scarf, and gloves on and left the French-Canadian and the British boys for Poppy Crafts, the craft store Yao owned.

~*~

"I'm pretty sure Kiku would kill them if he had to run the store while they made out in the store room…" Arthur said after 30 minutes of his American housemate being gone.

"Who?" Matthew asked.

"Kiku Honda. The Japanese guy who always visits the café in the afternoon? He's Yao's _only_ worker because he works so hard, so Yao and him… they get things done. But every time I see one or both of them, they look so tired…" Arthur mused, sipping his tea.

"Oh… him. Yeah. I've noticed that too… you think we should… you know, do something about it?" Matthew asked.

"Siccing Alfred on Yao is only the beginning of my plan for that store…" Arthur said, grinning evilly and rubbing his hands together.

Matthew slapped the other's quad muscle and the Brit groaned, face-planting onto the counter next to his mug. Matthew laughed, "But that's not a good thing to say, Arty… though, yes, Yao seems like the person who needs a boyfriend to get his head away from work…"

"And Kiku needs our humble coffee shop," Arthur countered, returning to a sitting position, "Though I'm sure he's had a tumble in the sheets with Yao while Alfred and him were off-again…" Arthur said, earning another quad-slap from a giggling French-Canadian.

"Wrong. Wrong. That was the _wrong_ thing to say. You need to get a filter on that mouth of yours," Matthew managed to get out.

"I know… I think it's the British side of me… we have no qualms…" Arthur replied.

"Or maybe _you_ need to stop hanging around Francis," Matthew replied, getting the Brit back for his quip a couple days prior.

Arthur simple laughed and put his hand over his face to… was that a blush? Matthew didn't ask, simply tucked it away in the back of his mind. Arthur suddenly opened the door and let in the snowstorm a little before slamming the door again. He had a plastic bag in his hand, and he handed it to Matthew before taking off his snowy outer clothes. Arthur jumped up and began inspecting the American.

"Can I help you, sir?" Alfred asked, "Not even a hello, and you're already making me nervous…"

"I'm checking for hickies…" Arthur replied simply.

Matthew dropped his head in both hands and laughed loudly into them before looking up, and flushing deeply, "Arthur! You damn Brit!"

"I'm sorry! I worry about my little Alfie and his various boyfriends…" Arthur replied, "If I check your wallet will I not find that condom you stashed there last week?"

"INAPPROPRIATE, ARTHUR!" Matthew shouted, laughing too hard to make things coherent.

"You're just lovely, Arthur, really…" Alfred said, rolling his eyes and shoving Arthur out of his way. "Shall we begin crafting?"

Matthew glanced down at the bag and moved the three to the kitchen, where he began setting up the Ukrainian eggs… _without_ the help of the back of the box. He mixed the dies and made the dippers by himself. He found the candles and began sticking the tool into the flame before putting the beeswax into the top and beginning to draw. Arthur and Alfred tried to follow Matthew's lead, but they lost him as he fluidly began drawing and dipping.

A few hours later, the phone rang, and Arthur gave up on drawing on his egg to get the phone.

"Hello? Oh. Hello Francis. Yes, this is Arthur. No. Yes. We're making Ukrainian eggs. Yes. I guess it is a spring craft. Matthew is _remembering_ stuff, though. Yes. Okay. Here he is…" Arthur said, handing the phone to Matthew, who paused in drawing the last little bit on his egg.

"_Mon petit Mathieu_!" Francis cooed into the phone.

"_Allo, Francois. Comment ca va?_" Matthew asked, moving the phone conversation to the living room while his housemates continued in struggling to read directions and catch up with their French-Canadian friend.

"_Ca va tres bien, Mathieu. Ecoute. Est-ce que tu veux diner avec moi?_" Francis asked. "_C'est ne pas romantique…_"

"_Juste parler avec moi?_" Matthew questioned.

"_Oui… parler de… Arthur et moi…_" Francis pressed, a little ambiguity in his voice.

"_Ah, bon? Interessant…_" the French-Canadian replied, a slight smile appearing on his lips. "_Quand est-ce que nous dinons?_"

"_Samedi?_"

"_Bon. Ou est-ce que nous dinons_?"

"_La café Monde?_"

"_Oui? A quelle heure?_"

"_Sept heure demie_."

"_Oui, bon. A bientot~_" Matthew replied, filing the information in his head.

"_A bientot, Mathieu. Au revoir._"

"_Au revoir, Francois_…"

Matthew returned to the kitchen to put the phone on the cradle.

"What was all that?" Alfred asked, finally at the point where he could melt off the wax on his egg and his patterns would show up in the different dye colors. Matthew sat and poked a hole in the bottom of his egg, letting the insides ooze into a metal bowl that already held Alfred's egg insides.

"That was a call from Francis…"

"Did he ask you over to his house for dinner? Because I heard you say 'yes' a lot into the phone…" Alfred pressed.

"_Non, Alfred_," Matthew laughed, "He just called to ask me to dinner. Just as friends…" he saw the look both the Brit and the American were giving him, "He wants to… to talk…"

"What about?" Alfred asked, still not trusting the Frenchman.

"Nothing important. We're friends. He wants to have dinner with me and I want to go. I'll be gone Saturday night. Lovino and I have a date Friday, as well…"

"Goodness, you're just busy this weekend…" Arthur commented, "How about you stay home on Sunday night and we watch _Gilmore Girls_ before falling asleep in a pile on the couch. Then we can wake up all groggy and push each other off the couch and grumble, until we get take our showers and get coffee into our systems so we can all get to work and be our loveliest…"

Matthew and Alfred laughed, but nodded at their British friend.

Matthew finished his egg and went to the cupboard; he took out some rice and began putting the rice onto a small plate. Alfred glanced at him, "What are you doing, Mattie?"

"… I, I thought that the eggs would look better on rice… I guess. I guess… I guess someone in my past taught me how to do this…" Matthew said, staring off into a space with a cute little smile. Arthur and Alfred knew he was trying to picture this person's face, now that the memory was established. Matthew snapped out of it quickly and placed his and Alfred's finished eggs onto the rice. He arranged the table so that the plate was in the middle.

"_Tres joli_," Arthur said, smiling at the new table decoration.

He placed his finished egg on to the plate and got up to see what it looked like along with Alfred. The three men stood in a line for a few minutes. Then Arthur snapped out of his mind and began cleaning up the materials. Alfred was next to begin helping. Finally, Matthew began to help. _That _girl… he thought, _who was she?_

~*~

Translations from French:

_Mon petit Mathieu_ – "My little Matthew"

_Allo, Francois _– "Hello (used for the phone), Francis"

_Comment ca va_ – "How are you?"

_Ca va tres bien_ – "I am very good"

_Ecoute_ – "Listen"

_Est-ce que tu veux diner avec moi_ – "Will you go to dinner with me?"

_C'est ne pas romantique _– "(This) isn't romantic…"

_Juste parler avec moi_ – "Just to talk with me?"

_Oui… parler de… Arthur et moi_ – "Yes… to talk about… Arthur and me…"

_Ah, bon? Interessant_ – "Oh, really? Interesting"

_Quand est-ce que nous dinons_ – "When are we dining?"

_Samedi_ – "Saturday"

_Bon. Ou est-ce que nous dinons_ – "Good. Where will we be dining?"

_A quelle heure_ – "At what time?"

_Sept heure demie_ – "Seven thirty"

_Oui, bon. A bientot – _" Yes, good. See you later"

_Tres joli_ – "Very cute"

~*~

_*coughs* I think you know who 'that girl' will wind up being. And I'm beginning to make Alfred and Arthur like Lorelei and Rory in _Gilmore Girls._ I think I should be stopped. _

_I know it already takes me like, two weeks, but next week, for me, is my Thanksgiving Break. I'm going to LA, and I'll bring my laptop. I don't know if I'll have internet, but I will difentely write the next chapter like the wind. I have to practice writing two lovely ladies who will show up really soon~_

_Anyway, here's another chapter, _mon amis_. **Please review if you have a chance (and even if you don't. Ana loves to see your smiling reviews in her email inbox~)**_

_Ciao~_

_~Anastasie~  
_


	6. Sunflower Feilds

~*~

Chapter Six: Sunflower Fields

~*~

"Have a good trip, Ivan…" Natalia Arlovskaya said, kissing her boyfriend's cheek, as his hands were full of bags and other such things. She and Ivan Braginski's's adopted sister had done what they could to get him to let them help, but it was a moot point to get the pale blonde to let them.

"Have fun while I'm gone, girls," Ivan replied, walking awkwardly to the door of his shuttle. The man took some of the heavier things and put them in the back, and Ivan waved at the two girls before stepping on the step stool and climbing into shuttle. Once the car was out of the driveway, Natalia and Katyusha Lozinski exhaled loudly and began giggling. Life was never easy with Ivan.

"Well… how does it feel to have him out of our hair?" Natalia asked, elbowing Katyusha in the side. The relationship between Natalia and Ivan was strictly his fault: Natalia was just too afraid to say no to the man. Katyusha, on the other hand, though she had grown up with Ivan, had never liked him since… an incident… with a boy named Matthew. That sweet French-Canadian had spurred Ivan's move to Fou, and Natalia and Katyusha had to follow, for fear the unstable being would be upon them.

"It feels… wonderful," Kat replied, crossing her arms over her stomach, which was a hard feat with her extended bosom. But she managed it, anyway.

They went inside and went around, turning off lights and getting their own bags from their rooms. Katyusha and Natalia had been planning their own trip since Ivan had announced this business trip. Katyusha wanted to see Matthew in Monde again… and Natalia was happy to get out of the house and back to their shining city again. No, living with Ivan was never easy.

Katyusha picked up a dilapidated white stuffed bear from her bed as Natalia came in to check on her. "I can't believe you haven't gotten rid of that thing…" Natalia told her.

Katyusha shrugged, "A standing vigil of our happier past. Poor thing. He must miss Matt—He must miss _him_…"

Natalia smiled and nodded quietly, a small smile on her face. Perhaps finding the boy and giving him the bear would make her friend a happier person. Unless… Natalia had been the last to see the boy, leaving him in the snow when she confronted a _very_ unstable Ivan… perhaps the boy had frozen to death…

"He's not dead, Nat… and even if he was, its not your fault…" Katyusha told her brooding friend, nudging the smaller girl forward and out to Natalia's car. Natalia opened the car and threw hers and Katyusha's bags into the back before going around to the driver's side.

"How can you be so optimistic about him, Kat?" Natalia asked as her well-endowed friend climbed in to her passenger seat.

"Because then holding this bear wouldn't be warm and comforting… I know it sounds stupid but…" Katyusha squeezed the bear tightly to her chest, "… whenever I hug Kumajirou, it's warm, and it's like Matt… like _he's_ still here with me…"

"It's not stupid, Kat… it's like Raivis and the stupid stuffed bird Eduard gave him for Christmas last year… only you have a better reason for keeping Kumajirou…" Natalia replied, backing out of the driveway.

"I think that's cute. Raivis hasn't had a boyfriend ever, so he has a reason to hold Pippin close all the time…" Katyusha said, smiling at the mention of Natalia's little brother and his gift from his bespectacled boyfriend.

"Yeah… but your little friend is… a sweet little reminder of a forbidden love… you think he has a lover now?" Natalia said, changing the subject quick as chess-clock thumper.

Katyusha looked out into the fallen snow, which was accented by the car headlights. "A part of me hopes he does, that he moved on, or doesn't even remember me. Another part of me really wants him to remember and pine for me…"

"Don't get your hopes up. He was pretty comatose for a while. I think Ivan gave him amnesia…" Natalia replied, turning onto the highway.

Her friend was pretty glum for a brief moment before she once again squeezed the bear and lightened up some. Natalia turned on the radio after a few moments, and the dulcet tones of Christmas carols sung by celebrities filled the car. Natalia and Katyusha began singing along, suddenly feeling silly as they sung like bad karaoke singers. It was _so_ nice not to be worrying about Ivan's mental health anymore.

Natalia turned into the exit to Monde and made their way to a hotel. Once situated, the girls at once took the hotel keys and got back into the car to cruise around their old city and relive some of their glory days before 'the incident…'

~*~

_There. The two lovely ladies of the story. Natalia is a little more subdued, and Ivan is chasing _her_ instead of the other way around. Yes, yes, everyone hates Ivan in this one. Because he's mentally unstable. And he's to blame for Matthew's amnesia._

_What's this? Estonia x Latvia? A lickle bit, yes. A little past!Ukraine x Canada as well. You can shoot me for not keeping it slashy. /waits to be executed/_

_Anyway. **Review, s'il vous plait et merci beaucoup.**_

_Ciao~_

_~Anastasie~  
_


	7. Three Different Cups

~*~

Chapter Seven: Three Different Cups

~*~

Ever since Arthur and his discussion of Kiku Honda, Matthew often watched over the Japanese man when he came in. At one instance, Feliciano noticed that Matthew was looking up from washing to look at the lonely man in the corner. Upon asking about it, Feliciano and Matthew vowed to be the Japanese man's guardian angels… while he was at the Café, at least.

About a day after 'swearing in' as 'guardian angels,' Feliciano glanced up to check on the haggard-looking Asian… and tripped over a mop that had been left across the entrance to behind the counter. The Japanese man looked up from his daydream and caught the Italian boy by the upper arm.

"Careful…"

Matthew heard the crash and was over in a second, "Feli~ Are you okay?"

"Just fine… thank goodness this man was here to catch me. My hero~" Feliciano replied, beaming idiotically, as usual.

Matthew grinned, "Thank you… uhhh… Kiku Honda, right?"

"Yes… and it's only fair if you tell me _your_ names since _you_ know _mine_…" Kiku replied good-naturedly.

"Feliciano Vargas and Matthew!" Feliciano replied, pointing to the wrong person as he did so.

Matthew laughed. "No, no, Feliciano… _I'm_ Matthew, and he's Feliciano…"

"Right… that's what I said… are you deaf, Mattie?" Feliciano asked, genuinely concerned.

Matthew couldn't help but laugh, "I can hear fine, Feli… anyway… it's nice to meet you, Kiku…"

"Nice to meet you as well… You must see me a lot around here… word _would_ get around about my name…" Kiku said.

Matthew smiled, "Well… yeah. But why are you always here in the afternoons?"

"Well… I work hard down at Poppy Crafts… and I want to have a cup of good tea and a bagel…" the Asian man stated.

Matthew knew there was something else: Ludwig had just walked out of the kitchens and Kiku was staring. Ludwig found what he was looking for: Feliciano, and barked at him to get back to work. Matthew shook his head, "Just a minute, you big jerk! We're talking up paying customers!"

Ludwig rolled his eyes and went back into the kitchens. Matthew looked expectantly over at Kiku, who was hiding a blush under his scarf. "Just for a good cup of tea and a bagel, huh?"

"Okay… you caught me. Ludwig came in to the store a few weeks ago and I… I had an immediate attraction to him," Kiku mumbled the last bit, but Matthew heard it just fine.

Matthew touched his arm, "Hey… let's get together sometime this weekend to talk some more… you, Feli and I. It'll be good for you…"

"O-Okay," Kiku replied, glancing up at the French-Canadian.

"When are you free, Kiku?" Feliciano asked.

"Afternoons… though Friday I get off at one…"

"Perfect… I've got a date at five, but I can fit you in and still have time to get to the five o' clock…" Matthew replied cheerfully.

"And we get off midday anyway, don't we?" Feliciano asked.

"_Oui_," Matthew replied, saying the word differently so it was literally like 'yeah' is to 'yes' in American English.

"Well then, it's settled. The beginnings of our own little Trio…" Feliciano replied, grinning happily from ear to ear.

"Though we'll have to choose something other than the Bad Touch Trio…" Kiku replied, snorting slightly as he glanced over at the corner table where two of the aforementioned Trio was sitting, sans Francis, who was still waiting tables for the next… thirty seconds.

"We'll discuss names on Friday… for now… I think Feli and I need to help clean up or Ludwig will have a conniption…" Matthew said.

"Go Hitler on us…" Feliciano replied, nodding.

"Throw us into a concentration camp," Matthew continued.

"Though this place _is_ kind of all ready our concentration camp."

"Sans the death and gas and creepy dead bodies everywhere…"

"And I don't think anyone of us are Jews… who work here, I mean."

"But we don't have women and children, which is kind of sad."

Kiku was amazed at the wit batted back and forth between the Italian and the French-Canadian.

"You two watch too much _Gilmore Girls_…" Kiku finally said.

Matthew and Feliciano shrugged, "It's a good show…"

Kiku smiled, "Don't I know it. Hey, can I be Lane in that case? If you're Lorelei and Rory?"

"Called Rory!" Feliciano yelled, "I got three boys after me in the second season…"

"Fine. I'll go run the inn with a disgruntled French guy…" Matthew replied, grabbing the mop that had started the new Trio, "Come on, _Rory_, this inn isn't going to clean itself."

"Fine, but I'm going to rant incessantly about how cute my boyfriend is~!" the Italian quipped, grabbing a dish-rag.

Lovino walked passed and rolled his eyes at that moment, "Getcherself a boyfriend first, lover boy…" he growled, before kissing Matthew quickly on the cheek and then putting the dishes he had in his hands into the sink and turning the water on them.

Feliciano simply blushed and scampered into the kitchen to see if Alfred and Ludwig needed any help.

~*~

"Okay… so Kiku said that he was just past Poppy Crafts on the left side of the street called…." Feliciano was reading the map upside down.

Matthew grabbed the map from him and turned it right-side-up to take a good look at it, "Oriental Drive… now that's just _uncanny_…"

"And a bit racist of the guy… do you think Im Soo and Yao live here too?" Feliciano asked.

Matthew elbowed him, "First Arthur and now you. Did I really live among a bunch of assholes?"

"Well… if you did then you led a really sheltered life from us all then. Whatever or whoever gave you amnesia did us a favor… though it might have been painful…"

Matthew turned on to Oriental Drive and found Kiku on his step blowing into his hands for warmth. Stopping the car, they parked and hopped out of the car.

"You… you waited for us outside in the cold? Nyaw," Matthew said, as Kiku stood.

"I figured you would place Feliciano as the navigator… not saying you're not a wonderful person, Feli," Kiku replied.

Feliciano blinked, "What?"

"Don't… don't say anything more…" Matthew replied, "May we come in, or are we going to have a freeze fest…"

"I don't know… I think my mom still doesn't trust you…" Kiku replied.

It took both Matthew and Feliciano a moment to get the reference, but Feliciano suddenly grinned and replied, "But she likes me, right? I'm the perfect daughter—er, son, and since she—he raised me, I think she should let up on my mom—dad…"

"And _I_ think we're calling ourselves the Gilmore Boys… if anyone asks," Matthew said.

Kiku and Feliciano's eyes widened as well as their smiles. Kiku took Matthew's arm and led them both inside his house. Once in the kitchen, Kiku put the kettle on and went to what looked like his tea cabinet.

"Wow… stocking up for a nuclear war?" Matthew asked, sitting on a stool near the counter.

Kiku suddenly turned to the French-Canadian and stuck his tongue out at him. Matthew couldn't help but turn to Feliciano to first giggle like fangirls and then laugh like real men.

"I'll have Apple-Cinnamon if you have it… but looking at that stock I think I'll get my wish…" Feliciano said, giggling slightly.

"Black tea for me… God… I sound like Arthur…" Matthew said, holding his stomach.

Kiku glanced at him and smiled, "You don't _say_, Matthew?"

Matthew rolled his eyes, "Hush up, you…"

Feliciano giggled from his spot at the counter, and Matthew couldn't help but glare at him. Feli yipped almost like a Chihuahua and averted his eyes, still smiling widely at his friend. The Asian man joined them on a third stool around the island counter. He paused before sitting.

"Do you guys want to sit under the kotatsu?" he asked.

Feliciano and Matthew looked first at each other and then at Kiku again.

"_Quoi_?" Matthew asked.

"Yeah, what?" Feliciano asked, a stupid look on his face.

"My mom sent it from Japan last winter… it's like an electronic blanket, but you put over the low tables we have over there… Dad gave me a little table, and Mom sent the kotatsu… it keeps your legs and feet warm…" Kiku added, a little whine in his voice suggesting that he was trying to get them under the kotatsu. In a way, it sounded dirty to Matthew.

"Sure~" Feliciano replied cheerfully.

And Matthew couldn't help but follow his two friends into the dining room, where, low and behold, there was the short table and the electronic blanket Kiku had been talking about.

~*~

Matthew wrapped his hands around the cup he was given and blew on the steam that rose to his nose. His companions did much the same. Talk had been limited until the kettle whistle had gone off, so Matthew relished the distraction. The tea was too hot to drink right that second, but it was good to have something else to do than twiddle his thumbs.

"So… Ludwig, huh?" Feliciano finally asked.

Kiku blushed and nodded, placing the cup delicately on the table as he shifted on the floor.

"It's not _bad_, Kiki…" Feliciano replied, giving the Japanese man a nickname.

_Feli _is _Rory to Kiku's Lane in our reality…_ Matthew thought quickly.

"It's just… he's hard to get along with, and he scares me sometimes… maybe because he's my boss and all… but he…" Feliciano didn't want to offend Kiku.

"You'd look cute together," Matthew piped in, saving Feliciano from a potential head explosion.

"We would?" Kiku asked, his body straightening.

"Yeah… You both value cleanliness… and the fact that your _tiny_ compared to Ludwig is really… kind of adorable," Matthew replied, shrugging.

Kiku blushed deeper and blew on his tea for a minute, "I like him because he seems lonely. He had that look when I saw him in the store and I was… attracted to it… Even though he came with his brother he still had that look that he was lonely and wanted… well… he wanted _different_ company, at least…"

Feliciano gasped lightly as Matthew giggled. Gilbert definitely _was_ a handful… and Ludwig needed someone quiet to hang out with…

"Why don't you go for it?" Feliciano asked, "I don't think he's seeing anyone right now… though you never know with how he's easily swayed by Francis…"

"But who could resist the man, Feli? Especially a young Italian named… oh! It's you!" Matthew teased.

It was Feliciano's turn to blush, "Sh-Shut up, Matthew…"

"You like Francis?" Kiku asked, wide-eyed.

Feliciano wouldn't speak to either of them. Matthew nodded at Kiku, "Yup. Head-over-heals in loooove with him…"

"Oh, like you don't like him either?" Feliciano nearly growled.

Matthew glanced at him, "He likes me because I speak French… But… you're cuter than me, so… don't lose hope…" the intuitive young man told his friend.

The grin returned to Feliciano's face, and the feeling of the conversation returned.

"And Matthew's seeing Lovino!" Feliciano told Kiku.

Kiku smiled at Matthew, "Are you? Are you happy together?"

Matthew nodded, "Very."

"But… _he_ asked _you_ out. If it went differently… who would you want to ask out?" Feliciano asked.

Matthew blanched. He was happy with Lovino! But… the question made him think. Lovino had simply been the first to ask Matthew out since the French-Canadian had contracted amnesia… if he had waited… who would he be pining for?

He checked the clock on the wall behind Kiku quite obviously. "Shoot! I've got to get you home before my date with Lovi, Feli…" he said, downing his tea and standing up.

Kiku and Feli stared at him for brief moment before Kiku said, "I'll take Feliciano home."

And Feli smirked and said, "Tell us who you'd pick other than Lovino to date, Mattie~"

Matthew's suddenly pale face turned a dark red in the course of a minute. He thought back to Alfred and Arthur and…

"Alfred…?"

And then he left, leaving Feliciano and Kiku looking at where he had been just moments before, mouth agape and wheels working rapidly in their heads.

~*~

_THIS IS THE LONGEST CHAPTER I HAVE EVER WRITTEN EVER. Just wanted to point that out. Anyway._

_What is my deal with having Kiku, Feliciano and Matthew as the main friend triangle? Oh... and the Gilmore Boys. Blame my mother. She's the one who pointed out that my stepfather would be male!Lane and thus making me make 'Kiki' male!Lane. And not just because Lane and Kiku are both Asian (total racist non-comment about them, sorry. It just worked in my head!canon)._

_Also... Matthew thought of Alfred first... it doesn't mean that Matthew actually pines for Alfred. It's vice versa. (But you never know... Matthew could secretly pine for Alfred... there was that kiss...)_

_**Please review this monstrosity.** Thank you._

_Ciao~_

_~Anastasie~  
_


	8. Little Princess

~*~

Chapter Eight: Little Princess

~*~

It was now Saturday Night. Alfred and Yao were out, and Ludwig and Arthur were out as well:

"Jeez, how could I forget that Arthur and Ludwig were all kissy-kissy?!" Matthew asked, exasperated.

"Don't worry about it, Mattie," Kiku replied over the phone, "Though… how could you forget about Arthur, don't you, you know, _live_ with him?" Male Lane asked.

"Redemption?" Feli asked from another end.

"For what?" Matthew asked.

"I never knew you from before the beginning of the month, Mattie… you must have been ignored or kept to yourself or you were invisible or something…" Feliciano replied.

All three seemed to think about this for a moment. With Feliciano and Kiku, Matthew seemed to think about what had happened to him, but he still couldn't _remember_. But he would try, and it was fun to think up random stories (all not true) with Kiku and Feliciano, _excuse me_, Male Lane and Male Rory.

"Well, whatever. I now feel bad for both you _and_ Arthur…" Matthew replied.

"I said don't worry about it. If worse comes to worse, I'll have to break Arthur's heart to get Ludwig to myself…" Kiku replied.

"I've heard Arthur's bad at dancing… you could have a dance-off to win Ludwig…" Feliciano said.

Matthew scoffed, "If you guys are going to plot against my adopted brother, I'm going to get off and take a long time to get ready for my dinner with Francis…"

Both of his friends gasped on the other end, even though they knew about his dinner with Francis… though the details they knew not of. "Does Lovi know about your dinner with Francis?" Feli asked.

"Yes," Matthew replied, slightly confused.

"Wait… so Lovino knows about the other man?" Kiku asked.

"Francis isn't the other man, guys. He just wants to talk… about him and Arthur…" Matthew replied slowly, the pieces clicking into place.

"LOVE WEB LOVE WEB LOVE WEB LOVE WEB!" Feliciano shouted excitedly.

Both Kiku and Matthew had to pull the phone away from their ears as Feliciano yelled. As soon as he was finished, Matthew was the first to set his phone against his ear, "I can practically _hear_ you flailing over there, Feliciano…"

"Sorry… it's just:" the other two heard Feliciano breathe in excitedly, ". LOVE WEB!!!!"

Matthew regretted keeping the phone to his ear. He grimaced, "Okay… Surely we'll get this all figured out, though… I'll talk to you soon. I have to get to dinner in an hour and I stink."

Kiku and Feliciano said their goodbyes and Matthew put the phone back into the cradle before sighing and cursing Feliciano's aptly named 'Love Web.' He didn't like that more and more threads were being added to it…

~*~

"_Ah, Bonjour, Mathieu! Welcome~_" Francis called to him in French. He was sitting in one of the more well-lit parts of the café, keeping true to his word that this would not be romantic.

Matthew smiled and sat down in the other chair. The Café Monde was a quaint little café, with a less-lit section for couples (was that Berwald and Tino making kissy-faces at each other?) and one for families and… well… Francis and himself were pretty much brothers anyway…

"_How are you this evening, Francois_?" Matthew asked, glancing over the menu. There really wasn't anything big in it, but a few things caught the French-Canadian's eye here and there.

"_Heartbroken. Filled to the brim with sorrow and loneliness…_" the older blond replied dramatically.

"_Ah, bon? D'accord._" Matthew replied, ignoring the other's dramatic airs.

"_Do you at least want to know why, mon cher?_" Francis asked.

"_Something about Arthur, I presume. Or some girl you woke up with this morning…_" Matthew replied nonchalantly, knowing the Frenchman's antics.

"_The former is correct, Mathieu… Arthur is with _Ludwig_ and not me!_" the Frenchman cried once more.

They were starting to get stares from the family of four by the window, but Matthew simply had to smile and they turned away, either charmed by the French-Canadian, or embarrassed that they were caught staring at the strange blond men.

A waiter came up to them and asked what they wanted to drink. Matthew ordered black tea (still becoming Arthur, eh?) and Francis ordered decaf coffee, putting on a show of being 'manly' in front of the obviously gay waiter. Matthew rolled his eyes as the waiter left. "_You had your chances, I suppose, to be with Arthur… why didn't you take it?_"

Francis blinked his pretty blue eyes (_they remind me of a girl's eyes_, Matthew thought briefly) and sighed, his eyes closing and a slight smile forming on his lips. It was Matthew's turn to blink.

"_I wanted to tell you that story…_" Francis replied.

Matthew nodded, "_Then go ahead…_"

Francis nodded and began:

~*~

_I had just moved here from Paris. I was about five years old, give or take a couple of months. My mother was unpacking and crying about my father's death, so she told me to go outside and get to know the neighbors. I did. And I met the Kirklands next door. Arthur was playing on the lawn, and his brothers were watching him, laughing at his youngness. He was about my age, again, give or take a couple months._

_He saw me and came over. We made quick introductions in the way only children can. When he heard that I could only speak French, he took it upon himself to teach me English. Being five, we both spent hours not actually being teacher nda pupil, but I rather would listen to him and copy his mouth movement. Instead of a classroom setting, we went out in the back near the river we lived by… and we would play in the water or go exploring instead. We were very good friends… until first grade, when we were split into two groups: boys and girls._

_~*~_

Matthew interrupted, "_Arthur thought you were a girl?_"

"_A very tomboyish girl. I wore trousers and picked up worms with him by the river all those years…_" Francis laughed, "_But that was just some back story… here's the tale I want to tell for real_…"

~*~

_That summer we deemed ourselves in love. Again, we were young, about six now. We were going into the same first grade, and we wanted to spend our last summer of freedom together. One day, we were lounging under Our Tree, the name for a willow we had found and thought the coolest thing on earth, I guess. _

_He took my hand and looked me in the eyes and said, "_You are my little princess._" _

_I had no qualms about being a princess. I thought we were playing a game. But then he kissed me on the lips and… I was hooked. I didn't care if I knew I was male and he thought I was female. I simply wanted to continue being his little princess…_

~*~

"_But then you were found out as a boy and…_" Matthew trailed off just as their drinks were served.

The waiter winked at Francis, but the Frenchman paid no heed to him, just ordered a sandwich. Matthew ordered a different kind of sandwich and the waiter sighed as he grabbed the menus from Matthew. He was embarrassed about coming on to Francis, apparently…

"_He's resented me ever since…_"

Another string on the infamous love web was set. "_You never had a chance, Francois. But then he came out of the closet and you… you could have had your chance… why didn't you take it, Francois?_"

"_I was afraid. I thought he still hated me. Sure, we're almost friends now… but that's just an almost. And besides, he has Ludwig now… what am _I_ going to do?_" Francis asked.

"_Feliciano likes you… a lot…_" Matthew said.

Francis stared at him, "_I don't want to break his heart. That's what I do because I secretly pine for Arthur… I just want to be Arthur's—_"

"—_Little Princess_," Matthew finished for him. He thought long and hard, but by the time he had an answer, food had been served. He decided to keep his thought to himself through the rest of dinner, and by the time they said goodbye, Matthew felt like the Web would have to be dealt with soon…

~*~

TRANSLATIONS:

_Ah, bon? D'accord._ – "Oh really? Okay."

~*~

_Aww... young!England and young!France has always been my favorite time to play around with. And what's better than England thinking France is a girl? (I thought France was a girl for five seconds... and everytime I see his picture I have to remind myself he is a perverted, womanizing man...) But I think I'm going to write more about England and France's relationship, along with America and Canada's relationship. Also, there are two ther (surprise!) relationships I want to focus on. And then there's the friendship between the _Gilmore Boys_._

_Anyway. I have Finals this weeks, so wish me luck, and I will surely write like the wind after the last Final is finished._

_Adieu~_

_~Anastasie~  
_


	9. Day and Night

~*~

Chapter Nine: Night and Day

~*~

Lovino was having a bad day. It was a Sunday, and Matthew was staying home with Arthur and Alfred, watching some chick show or something equally boring to the Sicilian. Lovi was waiting for Feliciano to come home from the store so he could call and at least chat with his adopted brother.

But as he thought about it, he reminded himself that he was estranged, even while living in Feliciano's house with their father…

~*~

"_Feliciano… he's here!" Marcus Vargas yelled as he came inside with a short, dark-haired young man. Lovino had been seven when he had entered the Vargas household. Feliciano was about the same age. _

_Marcus had looked on proudly when the young Feliciano had run out from under the kitchen table and had run up to his new family member to embrace him. Lovino was surprised at the gesture, and had wiggled out of the other's grasp. "Whoa, man!"_

"_What? You're family now, aren't you?" Feliciano had asked._

_Lovino thought about it, but he didn't feel it. _

_The young Sicilian soon felt that the family wasn't like him at all. Feliciano and Marcus hugged at bed-time, in the morning when they woke up, and at every major focal point. The first day of high school had been the worst for Lovino, watching Feliciano hug his father and… enjoy it. Lovino had merely run away from Marcus and Feliciano's hugging habits after that first time._

_Not to say he didn't miss it. _

~*~

Lovino heard the phone ring and reached to pick it off its cradle. "Hey, bro~" Feliciano sang into the phone, "I'm back from the store… but it's icy on my driveway and I need help…"

Lovino sighed. His brother's driveway was literally on a steep incline. Lovino blinked, "All right… be there in a minute…"

~*~

_Feliciano always needed help from Lovino. That's all the Sicilian was good for, it seemed. Marcus would always look on with a glint in his eye as Lovino cooked meals for the family and do dishes… and Lovino was only doing that to get closer to the Vargas family. He was often jealous of his 'brother,' for being what seemed like the perfect son to Marcus. Why had he been adopted when Feliciano was perfect and it didn't seem like anything that Lovino did made Marcus proud?_

_And then Marcus died. Lovino was in college, getting his major in Business. Feliciano was at an art school, flourishing as he never had in high school. Both brothers were torn after that. Lovino moved out of the Vargas's home at long last, and Feliciano had sold their childhood home to a friendly couple with a blonde-haired son. He soon moved into an apartment by himself… and then he had found the house with the driveway on a hill._

_Lovino had changed his last name from 'Vargas' to 'Romano' to get rid of painful memories, and Feliciano had kept his last name to remember them._

_The only thing the brothers did together nowadays was work at the Café Rose… and that was Lovino's fault. He had pushed Feliciano into getting a job, and he had wound up getting it as well…_

~*~

"Thanks, Lovi," Feliciano said, giving his brother a hug.

Lovino simply endured the term of affection from his adopted brother. "Yeah, well what would you have wound up doing? Camping out at the bottom of the hill?"

Feliciano giggled, "I might have… but… you seem sad right now… why don't you stay here so you're not alone tonight?"

Feliciano could do nothing but worry about his adopted brother. He was proud of the Sicilian for finally stepping out of his comfort zone and asking Matthew out. And he seemed happier for it. But something was still missing. It was probably the family Lovino had lost as a child… but he and Marcus had come to the rescue! Or not, it seemed.

Lovino looked at his adopted brother and shrugged, "I'm fine, Feli…"

"No you're not," Feli pressed, taking his brother's hand.

Lovi flinched and pulled away from his brother, "If I stay, will you stop?"

"Stop what?" Feli asked.

Lovi paused, covering the bottom half of his face with a hand, "N-Nothing. I'll stay."

"Yay~!" Feliciano cried, and he promptly threw his arms around his adopted brother once more.

~*~

_Feliciano didn't usually need him. It was only when Marcus died that he began calling him and asking for his help every chance he got. They saw each other at the café and then… and then Feliciano called him and they would get to talking about various things and people. Feliciano confided in Lovi everything from crushes to Christmas plans. Lovino didn't know why he suddenly found himself asking his brother over for the random movie night or even for coffee so they could have some one-on-one time with each other that didn't involve a machine pressed up against their ears. He just did…_

~*~

Lovino got the fire going, and Feliciano got the water boiling for his favorite meal: pasta. Lovino finally sat on the couch and… sulked. Feliciano noticed this, but said nothing.

After dinner, they were still silent, even as they sat on the couch together and watched the fire. It was eerily silent, and Feliciano didn't like it. "Lovi… what are you thinking about?" he asked quietly.

Lovino blinked and turned to his adopted brother, "Nothing."

"It can't be nothing, Lovi. You haven't spoken to me since after I asked you to stay. Are you mad at me?"

Lovino flinched and turned his head from his brother's sad brown eyes, "No."

Feliciano didn't quite believe him, "Really?"

"Really, Feli… it's not you…" Lovino replied.

They were silent once more, and Feliciano wrapped his arms around the other boy tightly and sighed, "You want to talk about it, Lovi?"

Lovino's heart seemed to pound as Feliciano hugged him. For some odd reason, this hug was more intimate than the others… or maybe it was just Lovino's imagination. He pulled away lightly, and Feliciano felt more… he didn't quite know the name of the feeling.

"Just… was thinking about… when I lived with you guys in that house…" Lovino replied quietly, crossing his arms over his chest.

Feliciano smiled, "Good times, right?"

"Well…" Feliciano did not like how Lovino evaded his question.

"Well what?" Feliciano asked when Lovino took too long to answer his question.

"I… I never really fit in with you two…" Lovino replied painfully.

Feliciano blinked, but he nodded after a few seconds. Then he shook his head, "You never _tried_, Lovi…"

Lovino looked at him, "What do you mean?"

"We tried so hard to get you to assimilate with us… but you never did, so we… we let you have your space…" Feli replied.

Lovino thought about it for a minute, "Wow… I really was a jackass, wasn't I?" he asked, laughing slightly.

Feliciano gave him a worried smile, "Well… yes. But we loved you anyway."

Lovino blinked and almost smiled, "Did you now?"

Feliciano nodded, "Well… _I_ did, at least…"

Lovino's almost-smile vanished and he… blushed? "What do you mean?"

"Well… you always helped me, and you never asked for anything in return… and then… and then at our Senior Prom…"

Lovino's eyes widened at the memory…

~*~

_Roderich Edelstein had said yes to coming with Feliciano to Prom and the young Vargas boy was so happy. He wasn't sure if he should go to his Senior Prom, but Marcus had been out to buy him a boy's blouse and black slacks for the occasion, and he had a date so…_

_But Rod had called and said that he had gotten back together with his girlfriend, Elizabeta, so he wouldn't be able to go with Feliciano._

_Feliciano was just about to go to his room to cry when Lovino got up from the table and said, "I'll go with you…"_

_Marcus blinked, and Feliciano sniffed and nearly fell into his adopted brother's arms. "What will you wear, Lovi?" Mr. Vargas had asked._

"_You have that tux you wore for Mrs. Bonnefoy's birthday, don't you?" Lovi had asked._

_Marcus nodded. Soon both boys were ready, and Marcus even took pictures, as a parent should. Lovino wore his usual scowl in many of them, though in a few, Feliciano had jumped on him from behind and he had left his usual frown for… a light blush across his face._

_When they got to the school gymnasium, Lovino showed the teacher their tickets and they walked in. Roderich and Elizabeta were surprised to see them there, but they were pleasant and Roderich tried to apologize to Feli before Lovi pulled at his adopted brother and…_

…_gave him the first slow dance…_

~*~

Lovino was blushing at the memory, "That was… so that you could go to your Senior Prom…"

"You say that… but it was the sweetest thing anyone's ever done for me," Feliciano replied.

He got up off the couch and went to his iPod. Searching down the menu, he found the song he was looking for and Elton John's version of'Can You Feel The Love Tonight' played softly out of the speakers. Feliciano held out his hands to Lovino, who was surprised at the pleasant memories flooding over him. He stood at took his brother's hands, letting the younger male (for Feli was a few months younger) pull him up and close to him. Lovino placed his hands on Feliciano's waist, and the other male put his hands on Lovino's shoulders. Elton John's soft words fell over them as they danced, reliving the memories of that first dance together on the floor.

~*~

_Whew. Oh lookit. I think it's another string on the Web that we've gathered hurr. -ohohohoho~-_

_Anyway, looks like I've got some freetime to write. Not that I'll just be working on this mess. I have a novel I've finally gotten around to writing and, frankly, it's more important. But I will write this fanfiction. This one is big and has some potential to blow your socks off in the end. So enjoy it. **And review. That's nice too.**_

_Adieu~_

_~Anastasie~  
_


	10. Little Lost Stray

~*~

Chapter Ten: Little Lost Stray

~*~

_An unknown face, pale, with almost white hair was all Matthew could see besides the scarf and how dangerously close to Matthew's face the other was, fist poised to hit the French-Canadian again._

"_No, please no!" A female voice shouted. _

_Matthew couldn't see her. She seemed… invisible to him… _

"_No lip from you, Kat… I need to get rid of this _little lost stray_…"_

~*~

"Matthew! Mattie, wake up!" Alfred said, shaking the younger male awake. Matthew finally opened his violet-blue eyes and threw his arms around the American, whimpering lightly into his t-shirt.

"Shh… I'm here. It was just a dream. What's gotten into you?"

"P-Past life. Frightening… frightening memory," Matthew panted.

Arthur crashed into the room at that point, wearing what looked like nightgown and a grey Santa Claus hat. "Matthew, what the fuck is going on…"

"He was getting attacked by monolithic snow elves," Alfred said, glancing at his housemate and, particularly, his outfit.

"I'm sorry I seem scary, it's _someone_'s fault for not doing the laundry this week _like we planned_." Arthur replied.

"Was it my week? Funny, you never said anything about it on Saturday. Oh, right. You were out being all _kissy-kissy_ with Ludwig that day…" Alfred said.

Matthew narrowed his eyes, "Hello, boy who just had a nightmare here!"

"Oh, right… what was it of, Mattie?" Arthur said, joining Alfred and Matthew on Matthew's bed.

"… some guy," Matthew said, his lips pouting somewhat as he tried to remember. It was all in vain, though. His dream memory was as bad as his short-term memory.

"Well… that helps a lot with your case, Matthew. I'll tell the police to arrest all the men in the city," Arthur said, and Alfred simply flicked him in the forehead.

"Stop being an asshat, Arty," he said simply.

"You first," Arthur replied, glaring at him.

Matthew wiggled out of his housemates' grips and stood up. "Come on. Alfred might have forgot about his laundry duty, but I haven't forgotten about grocery duty. You two are coming with me," he said.

"But Mattie~ We have work in an hour…" Alfred said.

"Then you're coming with me after work," Matthew said, and left the room to take a shower.

"When did he steal my pants away?" Arthur asked.

"Hey, you _never_ wore the pants in this family," Alfred replied.

"Yes I did…" Arthur pointed out, "I was the one who made the Chore Chart…"

"Well… you're pants are slightly more effeminate than mine…" Alfred replied, getting up.

"And now our pants are resorted to skirts in comparison to Matthew," Arthur replied, nearly swooning.

"Well… I'm going to man-up and get them back," Alfred replied, walking out of Matthew's bedroom. Arthur followed him and they closed the door behind him. "Since Matthew has the shower first… does that mean we get to play rock-paper-scissors over who goes next?" was the American's next brilliant question.

"Yes, Alfie, that's exactly what we do…"

~*~

"Hey, Kat?" Natalia asked poking her head into the bathroom. Katyusha looked up at her, her toothbrush in her mouth.

"What?" Kat replied after she had spit into the sink. She took up the hairbrush and glanced back at Natalia.

Natalia's face had gotten slightly red when she noticed that Katyusha was only wearing a long shirt and socks on her feet. She lifted her eyes and stayed with Katyusha's face, but her mind definitely wandered. "I'm… uhh… going to get us some supplies from our old supermarket before we live for Fou tonight… want to come and reminisce with me?"

Running the brush through her short hair, the Ukrainian girl grinned, "Of course, Nat… just let me get dressed…"

"Of course… I need to get ready for the day as well…" Natalia nearly barked. But this was her best friend. She couldn't be mean.

"All right then," Kat almost sang.

Natalia left her in the bathroom.

~*~

"Here's milk and eggs…" Matthew said, his nose in the list he had made that morning. Arthur was somewhere in the tea aisle, and Alfred was hanging over the cart like a small child, making odd noises in random intervals as Matthew tried his best to ignore the giant child.

"Jingle bells, Batman smells… Robin laid an eeeeeeggggggg~" Alfred sang.

Matthew rolled his eyes and placed his dairy products into the cart. He hit Alfred over the head with the list and pulled him off the cart so that he could actually _push_ the darn thing.

Once down the Frozen Foods aisle, they met back up with Arthur, who had _finally_ selected his tea. He set it down as Alfred ran down the aisle passed them singing, "The Batmobile, lost a wheel and the Joker did balleeeeeeeet!"

Matthew and Arthur exchanged glances, "He's regressed in age from 30-something to four…" Matthew replied as one of Arthur's bushy eyebrows raised.

"He better grow up before work tomorrow or I'll never hear the end of it from Francis…" Arthur replied, his arms crossing over his chest.

Matthew gulped, remembering the revelation Francis had told him the other night. It was all right, though… right?

Matthew shook off his thoughts and glanced to the side, "Oh, speaking of French… things… Here's the frozen French fries!"

~*~

"We need apples and… oooh! Christmas oranges!" Katyusha called.

Natalia was a little ways behind, her little basket nearly filled to the brim with little things: peanuts, lunchmeat, etc. She smiled at her friends excitement as she caught up with her. This was the Katyusha she knew and… loved? _N-not in a romantic way or anything… just as friends!_

Ah, who was Natalia kidding?

Katyusha was suddenly staring. Natalia looked in the direction of the… endowed woman to see three blonde heads, two with glasses and one with the glasses covering rather… familiar violet blue eyes…

"Matthew Williams?" Natalia finally called with Kat couldn't.

~*~

It took the French-Canadian a minute to _remember_ the names of the two girls in front of him. But when he saw the other one, the blonde-haired, big-breasted one, he was reminded of the dream he had had… _No, please no!_

"Natalia Arlovskaya…" Matthew breathed, "And Katyusha Lozinski…"

Arthur and Alfred looked at him, "Your… past life?"

"I believe so," Matthew said, dumping the contents of his hands into Alfred's arms and gravitating toward Katyusha. Natalia smiled. So her little charge was still alive.

Katyusha and Matthew embraced each other, both nearly crying. They held each other for a moment, and then let go to hold each other's hands. They were whispering to each other, fevered but joyous.

Natalia's smile widened, which only sent shivers down Arthur and Alfred's spines.

Then the Ukrainian said, "Matthew… I have Kumajirou… he's in the car…" she looked over to Natalia.

"Go on, Kat… I'll pay for these…" Nat replied, shrugging her shoulders forward to emphasize her point.

Matthew and Katyusha glanced at each other and ran out of the store. Arthur sighed and hit the top box in Alfred's arms, causing him to drop them into the cart. "Guess we're paying for these.

Alfred could only stand in shock until Arthur pinched him. "Come on, Toddler Boy… we'll meet him back at home, I'm sure…"

~*~

_More strings? Yusssssssshhhhhh... Sometimes I feel like an evil authoress, which is what I am, merci beaucoup. By the way... only one person has gotten the ending couples right, (except for one). I would reward them, but I thought I would at least give you others a chance._

_**Review, s'il vous plait, or Alfred will be poked with a hot fire picker so he'll sing the alternate version of 'Jingle Bells,' again...**_

_Adieu~_

_~Ana~  
_


	11. We Can't Go Back

~*~

Chapter Eleven: We Can't Go Back

~*~

Matthew hugged the white bear close to him. "Thank you so much, Kat…" he said. The white bear's blue eyes twinkled at him, even though they were made of glass, and the weather was grey. Matthew and Katyusha were by the shore, looking out at the nearly frozen-over ocean. Christmas shopping was insane at that moment, but the park was nearly empty except for a little blonde boy and his same-sex parents.

"Mama!" the boy was calling to the more… feminine male, "Push me on the swings, please?"

Matthew waved at them: regulars of the Café Rose, especially on Saturday afternoons. Peter, Berwald, and Tino were their names, a family Scandinavian background. They were due for a trip to Berwald's country of Sweden any moment now.

Katyusha laughed as Peter ran into the small French-Canadian and said, "Did you bring us cookies and hot chocolate, Mr. Matthew?"

"Not today, Peter…" Matthew replied, smiling sweetly at the young boy.

"That's too bad… see you Saturday, Mr. Matthew~ Your girlfriend's really pretty by the way~" Peter called, dashing across the snow, back to his 'Mama' and 'Daddy.'

Katyusha blushed, but said nothing. "Cute kid…" she said.

Matthew nodded.

Then there was silence. Matthew sat down in the snow, and in a few moments, Katyusha joined him. "You ever think about settling down and having a child?  
Katyusha asked, watching as Berwald pushed his adopted son on the swings. Tino looked on with laughter in his eyes.

Matthew smiled, "Yes…" Then he thought about the statement. "I… I'm seeing someone right now…"

Katyusha turned from him, "I… could tell…" she replied.

"Well… he might or might not be the one. My friends kind of made me think real hard about who I _really_ wanted…" Matthew ranted.

"Really? You look cute together…" Katyusha said.

Matthew blinked. He hadn't seen Katyusha around when he was with Lovino… so how had she… unless… "Arthur's my housemate…" he said quickly.

Katyusha blinked.

"The green-eyed one that did most of the talking at the store?" Matthew prompted.

Katyusha thought back… and then began laughing, "N-No… I know _that_. This _Arthur's _not your type, Mattie… I meant the _other_ one… the one that looks kind of like you… except taller…" _And more manly…_

Matthew blushed, "Alfred? He's not my boyfriend. I'm dating a Lovino Romano," Matthew replied slowly.

Kat blinked, "The boy who took his adopted brother to their Senior Prom?" she asked.

"Did he?" Matthew asked.

"Oh, right… you were homeschooled…" Kat mused. "But yes. Roddy decided to break Feliciano's heart because Eliza came back to him… and Lovino stepped in and saved the day… That's when I figured out they were _adopted_ brothers…"

Matthew was reminded of Kat's scary intuition when it came to love and relationships. So… did she know that… maybe… just maybe… Matthew was harboring feelings for his American housemate?

"But I'm sorry I embarrassed you…" Katyusha said, looking at her former boyfriend. She kissed him on the cheek, "I was just coming to terms with myself that… we can't go back…"

Matthew was reminded of Kat's brother's voice in his dream that morning. He still couldn't see Ivan's face in his mind, not that he really wanted to, though it unnerved him. "Yeah… you have Ivan to worry about… and I finally have a life…"

~*~

"Alfred… let it go…" Arthur said as he unlocked the door and pulled the groceries and Alfred (by his collar) into the house.

"But… Mattie had a girlfriend, and a bully… and this girl!" the American said, pointing to Natalia, who had followed the Brit and the American to their house, as Katyusha and Matthew had taken off in her car.

"'This girl' has a name, and it's Natalia Arlovskaya, thank you very much," Nat huffed as Arthur closed the door behind her.

"All right, Natalia," Arthur said, "Help me put away the food, and spill the beans. Who is Katyusha to Matthew?" the Brit asked, handing her a bag.

Alfred shrugged and followed them into the kitchen. He instructed Natalia in where everything went, though he himself had no clue. (And Arty was being OCD about it anyway.)

"Katyusha was his first real friend and his girlfriend up until a few months ago. Her brother, Ivan, is mentally unstable, and anyone in his little sister's life besides him and me makes him extremely jealous and he goes into fits. In one of those fits after learning about Matthew… he… Ivan beat him senseless and left Matthew in the snow…" Natalia replied. "We tried to move him… but Ivan saw us and … moved us away…"

Arty handed her a box of cereal, then, thinking better of it, gave it to Alfred. Then he thought better of _that_ and took it back, putting it up in the cupboard where it belonged. "So… she's special to him."

"Yes. Perhaps. I don't know…" Natalia snapped, now feeling useless. She went to stand next to Alfred.

"Aww… is someone jealous?" Alfred asked, looking down at the smaller woman.

Nat's eyes snapped up at him, "No!" she shouted.

Then she paused, "Yes. But not of Katyusha. I… I love her," she whispered fiercely.

Arthur finished the last box and slammed the door closed, turning to her, "So… why did you bring her here?"

"After Ivan moved us to Fou, Kat got really depressed. So I vowed I would bring her back here for some… closure… We had some time, with Ivan away on business…" Natalia replied, slowly.

Arthur and Alfred nodded. After a few minutes of tight silence, Natalia went into the living room. Arthur restrained Alfred from following her, silently telling the other man that the woman needed her space.

~*~

Katyusha turned the ignition off and the two sat in the car and stared at Matthew's house. "You lived in an apartment in our building. Ivan still owns it. I heard it was torched after your final… you went unconscious…"

Matthew flinched, "Well… I'm glad Arthur and Alfred found me and brought me into their home."

"You love pancakes and maple syrup. Oh! I have the recipe for maple fudge… you made that for my birthday last year…" Kat said.

They had been playing that game since the car ride had started. Katyusha was reminding Matthew of his past life, trying her hardest not to bring Ivan into the picture. It was working very well.

"We should go in… Nat's probably with them…" Matthew prompted, opening the door and pulling Kumajirou close to him.

"Oh… okay…" Katyusha replied, and followed the French-Canadian into the house.

Arthur tackled Matthew upon entering. Natalia hung back for about a minute, and then tackled Katyusha. After a few moments, Alfred came out from the kitchen (it smelled like polenta) and saw the hug fest. He smiled, and brought the two couples together in a giant group hug. Katyusha laughed.

"I like this one, Mattie~" she said, glancing at Alfred.

Matthew groaned, "I'm not liking _this_ one at the moment," he said, glaring at Arthur.

"Well… I hope gaining your past life back was enjoyable, Mattie… but I missed you while you were out and…" Arthur was putting on a show.

Matthew decided to stop him, "Okay… you have been spending _waaaaaay_ too much time with Francis. Could you two, like, start a theatre troupe together or something?" Matthew asked.

Arthur blinked. Then he blushed. Then he looked at his feet. And then he bolted up the stairs and slammed his door closed. The other four blinked. Natalia glanced at Alfred, who shrugged. Katyusha blinked, and then took Natalia's hand in her gloved one. Natalia blushed lightly, but the other girl didn't notice.

"I guess we should be getting home, Nat…" Katyusha told her.

Natalia nodded, grabbing her purse and the bag of groceries she had to pay for when Katyusha had run off with Matthew. Matthew hugged Kat, "It was nice to see you again, Kat…"

Katyusha smiled, "You too. Stay happy, Mattie…"

Matthew nodded, "You… You _try_ to stay happy. At least Ivan is _nice_ to you…"

"Don't be like that, Mattie. We'll… well… Goodbye, Matthew. Goodbye, Alfred…" Kat said, "Oh! Your last name is Williams…" she said over her shoulder, smiling.

The girls shuffled out. Matthew stood, thunderstruck, but slowly remembering. _Matthew… Williams._ Alfred and Matthew waited until the car lights weren't shining through their window anymore to speak.

"Did you have fun?" Alfred asked.

Matthew nodded, then looked up the stairs towards Arthur's room. "Lemme go talk to the Queen of England…"

"Yes… Her Majesty needs a stern talking to. As for me, I have polenta to make…" Alfred replied, nodding for Matthew to go. Matthew did, and Alfred went back into the kitchen…

~*~

_Yes... you know I had to make the joke about Arthur being the Queen of England someday..._

_And, oh my, a couple more strings. This is getting to be a Tangled Mess more than a Love Web... -maniacal laughter- Oh, and Russia does not a have a sister complex. He is simply taking the 'protective older brother' role a little too seriously. And that triggers his insanity. Usually he's a sweetie-pie-and-a-half. It's just... don't date Ukraine... unless you're Belarus, but Bela and Russia are in a (mostly one-sided on Russia's (Quoi?) part) relationship._

_I swear things will get happier. Soon._

_**Please review, mes amis. No threats, just pleas. Actually... review or I'll go Hamlet (read it.) in the corner.**_

_'Cause I'm an emo kid. Er, Hamlet-kid._

_Adieu~_

_Ana-chan  
_


	12. Je Ne T'aime Pas

~*~

Chapter Twelve: Je Ne T'aime Pas

~*~

Ludwig was outside of his little hole of a kitchen, working the register during lunch because he had nothing better to do. Come to think of it, he could have gone and sat with Francis, who was eating alone since his two friends had bailed on him. It was only 11:30 on a Friday afternoon, and he knew that his busboys wouldn't be back, as it was now their afternoon off. On Fridays, Alfred and Arthur doubled themselves as busboys as well as their primary jobs (Arthur was a waiter/barista, and Alfred was a cook). But what was Francis still doing here?

Suddenly, Feliciano crashed in, followed closely by one… Kiku Honda, was his name? Kiku smirked as he noticed Francis was alone, and pushed the Italian toward the Frenchmen. "Tell him so you can have some closure…" Kiku said.

Feliciano whined without words and went over to Francis. Ludwig suddenly felt sick to his stomach, and turned away into the kitchen. Kiku looked up from his internal thoughts and saw the tall blond go into the kitchen. He looked back at Feliciano, who was stuttering at Francis, and then slipped into the kitchen undetected.

Ludwig was watching Francis and Feliciano from the window where orders were usually given to Ludwig or Alfred, whoever was there at the moment. He looked sad, and so he should: his crush was telling someone _else_ of his affections.

_But what about Arthur?_ Kiku thought just as the German man saw him.

"What are you doing in here?" Ludwig asked suddenly, frightening Kiku slightly.

"I wanted to be there for you…" Kiku replied, nodding his head and then looking at his feet. Why was had he been so blunt?

"What? I have a boyfriend… Feliciano means nothing to me…" Ludwig said, putting a large hand over his mouth to hide his blush.

Kiku blinked, casting his eyes upward at the other male, "I know… but you still need closure. I can tell you still have feelings for Feli…"

Ludwig was surprised, "Your… your name is Kiku, right?"

Kiku nodded and bowed, something his mother had engrained in his mind even before he had moved with her and his father to Monde, which was halfway around the world from Tokyo: "Yes. Kiku Honda. Pleased to finally speak to you…"

Ludwig laughed, "I think that last time we spoke was when Gilbert was looking for that paper straw you put in Easter baskets…"

Kiku blushed, "Work… doesn't count…"

Ludwig laughed again, actually liking being around the short Japanese man… _What about Arthur?_ his inner Gilbert asked, crossing his arms.

_Oh…_ Ludwig thought. Something was off about the whole situation. He was _sure_ he loved the Brit but… Ludwig glanced out at Feliciano and Francis. Kiku came close to him and went on tiptoe to watch through the window. Ludwig blushed at how close they were, confused about why he was so attracted to the short Japanese man.

"I love you, will you go out with me?" Feliciano was saying quickly, as if the whole sentence was one word.

Francis seemed to know what was going on and looked up lazily from his text message. "_Je ne t'aime pas_, Feliciano-_cher_," he said with an unfeeling monotone. "I… I cannot go out with you… please move on from me…"

Ludwig and Kiku both went wide-eyed: Ludwig at Francis's blatant refusal, and Kiku because of the words Francis had chose. _Je ne t'aime pas? I don't like you? Or I don't __**love**__ you?_ He thought, remembering looking up words when he and Matthew had been text messaging. Matthew often switched into Quebecois to confuse the poor Japanese man, especially since Kiku's phone didn't do the Japanese characters so well, and Kiku really couldn't get the other back. (Not that Kiku remembered a _lick_ of his first language, mind you…)

Feliciano knew Francis would say something along those lines, but they still made him sad. So he started sniffling. And Kiku ran out of the kitchen to comfort his friend and Male!Rory. Feli stopped Kiku from hugging him, as his phone had rung. He took it out and opened it. "C-Ciao?" he asked, "Hey, Lovi. … No! Nothing's the matter! … O-Okay… I'll see you in a moment…" he snapped the phone closed.

Kiku glanced first at Feliciano, then at Ludwig, and then at Francis, who looked as hurt as Feliciano. "Let's still be friends, Francis," Feliciano sniffed, and then he bolted out the door. Since Kiku was his ride, he gave Ludwig a shy little wave before running out after the blubbering Italian.

~*~

Kiku had dropped off Feliciano without another word. After he had backed down the steep incline that was the Italian's driveway, he headed on home to Oriental drive.

Poor Feli unlocked his door and opened it, walking in the door to find his adopted brother waiting for him.

"You told him, didn't you? And what did the wine bastard say?" Lovino asked, seething lightly.

"He told me what I needed to hear," Feliciano replied simply, placing his keys on the table. He went to take off his coat, but his eyes were blurry with fresh tears. Lovino saw this a jumped up from the couch. He delicately removed his brother's coat before Feliciano really started to cry again.

Feliciano turned around so that they were chest to chest and threw his arms around his brother. Blushing, it took the other a while to return the gesture, but when he did, it was soft and loving, a touch he had only given one other person at that moment: Matthew.

"… Are you still hung up on that guy?" Lovino asked, as Feliciano's sobs turned into almost frightened hiccups.

"Not (hic) anymore. It was (hic) mostly clos—(hic)—sure for me (hic)," Feliciano whimpered.

Lovino nodded and put one hand on the back of his brother's head, pushing it into his shoulder. Feliciano clutched at Lovino's shirt. Lovino began to sing lightly, an old lullaby he had learned from listening to Marcus calm his son's fears after a nasty nightmare.

~*~

Translations:

_Je ne t'aime pas_ – "I don't love (like) you."

~*~

_-flails- OMG~ Kiku x Ludwig AND Lovino x Feliciano? Oh la freaking vache!_

_Yeah, here's another quick chapter for you before school consumes my soul for another week. Be proud of me ^^_

_**Oh, and review. I know you want to. -pokes-**_

_Adieu~_

_Ana-chan  
_


	13. Bells Are Ringing

~*~

Chapter Thirteen: Bells Are Ringing

~*~

Matthew thought it was going to be a peaceful morning, just him and Arthur, reading books and watching _Gilmore Girls_ again… but, sadly, Alfred had just come home from Yao's that morning, quite earlier than usual.

"What the bloody hell, Alfie? Did you and Yao have a fight?" Arthur asked, standing up.

"No… but I had a _really_ good idea and I wanted to go home to tell you guys…" Alfred replied.

"… I'm calling Yao and apologizing _for_ you," Matthew replied, getting up to use the landline.

Alfred stopped him and said, "Wait! Lemme tell you of my awesome idea!"

The French-Canadian froze with his hand over the phone. Alfred smiled at him, and then turned to Arthur, "We have to have a Christmas party!"

"Absolutely not, Alfred," Arthur replied, quick as a chess-clock thumper.

"Why not, _Mom_," Alfred whined.

"Yeah, why not?" Matthew asked, coming into the living room a little more.

Arthur felt ganged up on. It was one thing for Alfred to have silly ideas, but now with Matthew as a tie-breaker… "All right… but on one condition. No inviting Francis."

"He's a friend of _mine_," Matthew said, "Take the stick out of your ass and invite him…" there was a kind of hostility in the French-Canadian's voice.

Arthur blinked, "Oh… okay…"

Alfred was very happy now that his idea was being put into motion, "Let me start inviting people," he said, taking the landline off the wall and getting the address book. "Hey, Mattie?"

"Hmm?"

"Do you want me to ask Natalia and Katyusha down?" Alfred asked.

Matthew was about to accept the idea, but then he remembered the voice from his dream. He _still_ could not put a face to the name, but he knew that Ivan was the one that had taken Kat away from him mere _months_ ago…

"No… I don't think she'll want to come…" Matthew replied.

"Of course she would. You're going to be there, right?" Alfred asked.

Arthur knew his housemate was pushing it. And after Matthew's whimpering reply to Alfred: "Her… her brother…." He put a hand on Matthew's shoulder to calm him and looked over at Alfred, "Don't push it, Alfie. If Mattie says not to invite them, then don't."

Alfred pouted his lips out a little, filing away the way Arthur defended Mattie. Not that he was going to do what Matthew and Arthur were telling him. He had liked the company of the girls, and maybe… maybe he would learn more about Matthew's past. The French-Canadian was certainly the most interesting person the American knew because of his mysterious past…

"Fine… now… Ludwig and Yao will definitely come, right?" Alfred said when he caught his housemates waiting for his answer…

~*~

"This party is wild!" Feliciano hissed, finding Matthew in the kitchen, handing out wine to those who were wanting it (Francis, Feliciano…)

"Alfred usually throws bigger ones," Francis replied as Kiku found his other Gilmore Boys. He smiled at the Japanese man before making his back into the living room.

"Where's Ludwig?" Kiku asked.

Matthew's eyebrows shot up, "Upstairs with Arthur…"

Feliciano giggled, "And how drunk are they?"

"Well… I think Her Majesty had her shirt halfway off last time I saw them…" Matthew replied, elbowing Kiku in the side and winking lightly.

Kiku blushed violently, "Oh dear…" he said, "I really have no chance with Ludwig, do I?"

Matthew went out from the counter and hugged his friend, just as a somewhat flustered Arthur came in, drunk as a skunk. Matthew helped his housemate to the table to sit him down. "Well… did you two have fun?"

"No… Ludwig went to the bathroom. Alfred… he put up mistletoe, but I think… I think I had a little too much to drink because I can hardly see in the dark…"

Feliciano grinned and pushed Kiku toward the living room and the stairs. "GO!" he hissed, "Mistletoe and Ludwig? You're dream come true, right?"

Kiku blushed again, but he was at once being pushed up the stairs at that point by Feliciano. He was already passed the point of no return, so he kept going even as Matthew pulled Feliciano back down the steps and into the kitchen again.

Kiku climbed the last of the steps and under the mistletoe. He pretended to look for the bathroom, just as Ludwig came out. He seemed a little less wasted than his boyfriend was downstairs, but as he glanced at the Japanese man and then at the mistletoe, it seemed he sobered up a little more.

"Hey, Kiku," Ludwig said, a slight blush across his face.

"Oh, hey, Ludwig," Kiku replied, a submissive air to his personality.

Ludwig stepped closer to Kiku. "You're… having a fun time, yes?" he asked.

"Of course. I _am_ capable of having fun, you know…" was that an air of flirtatiousness in Kiku's speech?

Ludwig blinked and took a step closer, "I had no doubt."

They were nearly face-to-face now, Ludwig standing maybe six, seven inches taller than Kiku. Kiku was looking up, still pretending he wasn't seeing the mistletoe. Ludwig tugged at it lightly, "You're also under mistletoe…"

Kiku finally noticed (or pretended to finally notice, at least) that he was under the green and white plant, "Oh~" he said, going cute and innocent.

But Ludwig had leaned down and kissed the other lightly on the mouth. And Kiku had pushed up to meet him, making the kiss a little less… innocent.

~*~

Matthew was out talking with Kiku and Feliciano about Kiku's dream-come-true upstairs as Ludwig and him made lovey-dovey faces across the room from each other. Matthew was happy for Kiku, but it seemed Arthur might get hurt from it. Not that it mattered much to Mattie. The doorbell rang and, as the closest person to the door, he opened the door to…

Natalia and Katyusha. Matthew blinked, swearing to kill Alfred as soon as he got a chance. "Hey, Mattie~" Kat said, kissing Matthew's cheek.

She was soon introduced to the rest of the Gilmore Boys and then the rest of the party engulfed her. Feliciano excused himself to go to the bathroom, just as Lovino found his boyfriend and kissed his cheek in greeting. "Where did my brother go?" he asked, watching Feli as he jumped up the stairs two steps at a time.

"Bathroom, Lovi…" Kiku replied, tearing his eyes away from Ludwig to glance at the Sicilian.

Lovino nodded. He then tried to get into the conversation Matthew and Kiku were in: something about Mattie's past life, but he couldn't shake off the distraction of the mistletoe at the top of the stairs… and how he wanted to be caught under it with _Feliciano_ and not _Matthew_…

He whispered something about going to the bathroom, but no one really heard him. He then unlatched himself from Matthew's waist and climbed the stairs. The others were still too distracted. Lovino kept looking back as he… was he sneaking? Technically, yes he was. One last glance and he was on the top step and _under the mistletoe_, just as Feliciano bumped into him.

"Ow! Ow ow ow!" Feliciano hissed.

"I'm sorry!" Lovino replied. "What did you hurt?"

"My hair… ow!" Feliciano said, taking the hair that often stood out from Lovino's. Yes… they both had that _one hair_ that just would not cooperate. Surely it was a coincidence… or perhaps it was the fourteen years they had lived together…

"Don't pull!" Lovino hissed.

They took a few more minutes to untangle the hairs before they breathed out at the same time, happy that the whole ordeal was over… then Lovino realized he was under the mistletoe… and then Feliciano noticed the situation, as well…

"Uhh… sorry about—" Lovino couldn't finish, as Feliciano had gone up on tiptoe to kiss his adopted brother on the mouth quickly. "—Whut?"

Feli shrugged and gave Lovi a cute little smile, "You're under the mistletoe."

"I…" Lovino was blushing madly, but Feliciano didn't notice it in the dim lighting. He simply waved cutely and dashed down the steps. Lovino soon followed him, but went to another corner from the Gilmore Boys, now _very_ confused about his situation.

~*~

"Aren't you glad Alfred invited us?" Katyusha asked.

Natalia frowned. She had thought Matthew's new family hated them or something. But as she chatted with Feliciano and Kiku, and a little later, Francis (and Ludwig, who was there for the girls 'protection'), they felt more at home in Monde than they really ever had. She filed away this information in the back of her head, just in case.

Then she excused herself to go to the bathroom.

Katyusha was surprised at how quiet Nat was being. Katyusha was having fun, but she thought she was having fun for the both of them, and that made her very tired. So she decided to ascend the stairs and talk to her friend in a more private setting.

She climbed the steps and found herself in Matthew's new world. There were pictures going up the stairs, most of Arthur and Alfred, Alfred's face getting sillier and sillier… and then the last picture was of Matthew pouncing on both of his housemates as the 'end' of the picture sequence. It was adorable to the Ukrainian girl. Mattie was in good hands here in Monde…

Then she bumped into Natalia at the top of the steps. Kat fell back against the wall, and Natalia was just about to jump up when Kat saw the mistletoe and…

…Kissed her friend squarely on the mouth. Natalia's eyes widened as she ripped away from the situation, rushing down the steps and out the door to the car. Katyusha had the keys in her pocket. Perhaps it was time to go.

The car ride would surely be awkward though. Katyusha shook her head. It had been _mistletoe_ for Christ's sake. And Nat had caught Kat under it. Try explaining that to her headstrong friend… Kat sighed and said goodbye to the Gilmore Boys, as well as Alfred and Arthur, before leaving the house to take her freaked-out friend home.

~*~

Arthur was tired. He was already feeling a hangover coming on. Both Ludwig and Alfred told him to go upstairs and sleep, and that Ludwig would allow him to get over his hangover, as long as he came in to the Cafe in the afternoon. Ludwig was saying goodbye at the base of the steps, and Arthur was trying hard not to jump his boyfriend's bones. Soon, Ludwig was leaving, and Arthur was climbing the steps slowly, trying not to knock the pictures down. And who should he bump into but one Francis Bonnefoy.

"Shit…" Arthur slurred.

"Don't you 'shit' me, Arthur. _You're_ the one under the mistletoe," Francis said, tugging it lightly and giving the Brit a rather seductive look, "And you're drunker than Santa on Christmas."

"Tino or the myth?" Arthur asked. Francis was backing him into a corner.

"Both…" Francis replied after a time. Arthur was now cornered, his back to the hall closet, and Francis was pressing against his groin. If Arthur wasn't dating Ludwig, it would have been very… sexy. But as it were, Arthur's head ached, and he just wanted to get some sleep so he could see Ludwig and apologize profusely for his behavior.

"Francis… please. I'm dating someone right now and… it's just a holiday gimmick sent to us from Poppy Crafts…" Arthur said, moving his head to the side.

Francis simply took two fingers and made Arthur's face turn back to him. His breath was now on Arthur mouth, smelling of fermented grapes. "Ludwig isn't here, is he?" he asked, his voice low. Arthur had to admit he now felt a little… tight in his pants. "And it's a 'holiday gimmick' too pleasurable to pass up…" Francis had felt the happy camper in Arthur's pants, all right.

And it was Arthur who had initiated the kiss. Though he hoped to God no one would come up and see him like this… But Francis was pressing back on Arthur's lips, and Arthur was in high heaven, wondering why he was there in the first place. Then the kiss ended, mostly because of Francis. He had gotten what he had wanted. But there was something in the Frenchman's eyes that Arthur was too drunk to ask about. _Why does Francis look… sad?_

Francis let go of Arthur and at once disappeared. Arthur shook his head, looked in the direction where Francis had gone, and then went into his room, flopping onto the bed and falling asleep.

~*~

The party had wound down fast after Arthur had gone to bed and Francis had left without another word. Really… Arthur had gone up, and a few minutes later, Francis had rushed out the door without saying goodbye. A few more minutes later, and the house had emptied out successfully. Alfred and Matthew were left to clean up, so Alfred too the kitchen, and Matthew took the living room and the stairs.

Matthew started down stairs, picking up stray napkins and beer cans before going up the stairs. He saw the mistletoe and sighed, disappointed that he hadn't noticed it before… But Lovi was gone and… Alfred was coming up the stairs.

Matthew was had the mistletoe and was trying to pull it down when Alfred came up. The American smirked. "Hey… is that mistletoe?"

Matthew went to say something witty back, but he got so far as "No, it's a maple—" before Alfred had stopped him with a kiss. Matthew's eyes widened, but he went with it after a few moments, closing his eyes as he finally tore the stupid fake plant off the ceiling. He pulled away quickly.

"Good night, Alfred…" he said, and slipped passed the American down the stairs and into his room.

Alfred smiled, touching his lips. "Payback for when we met, Mattie…" he said. But he knew that kiss was for other reasons as well.

_Je t'aime_…_ I love you._

~*~

_-iz dead- Long-ass chapter is long-ass. But it was fun. Favorite scenes?_

_For me it was all of them. But mostly those involving the Gilmore Boys. They're so precious to me... Oh, and Arthur and Francis. Poor Francis, though. He knows he can't have Arthur... just yet._

_**Please review** -poke, poke- **or I'll poke you with something firey and sharp.**_

_Adieu~_

_~Ana-chan~  
_


	14. Sleigh Bells And Snow

~*~

Chapter Fourteen: Sleigh Bells And Snow

~*~

It was supposed to be a quiet Christmas Eve. But then Francis showed up at the door with wine and gifts for the three roommates. Arthur was done for, that was for sure. Francis probably remembered the party and… who was he kidding. Francis was like an elephant with _that_ sort of thing…

But Francis didn't say anything, bless his heart. They celebrated with the wine a little bit, but each of them knew their limit. Alfred suggested Christmas episodes of _Gilmore Girls_, and everyone cuddled up on the couch to watch them.

"I didn't know you three were such… _femmes_," Francis said.

Matthew glanced at him, sticking his tongue out childishly, "_Shut up and watch our favorite girls, Francois_," he said in harsh Quebecois.

After sifting through the differences and accent of his friend's 'French,' Francis's eyebrows shot up, but he shrugged lightly. "_D'accord_."

~*~

"Katyusha…" Ivan said, slamming the receipt for Natalia and Katyusha's shopping trip down in Monde on the table in front of his sister. She had been sewing in her room… and Ivan had that look in his eyes…

"Ivan, brother… it's nothing…" she said, standing. She waited for a blow, but it didn't come.

Natalia had entered and had pinned her boyfriend's hands behind his back. She was also behind him, so she had a good grip on the bigger man. "Someone bought her something and accidently gave us the receipt…" Natalia lied, her voice a strong monotone.

"I don't believe you, Nat…" Ivan hissed, thrashing lightly.

Natalia had learned control and a little martial arts from a family friend of hers, Toris, and would not back down now. She breathed, and Ivan thrashed, and Natalia was slowly winning the passive battle.

"I heard from Eduard that you had gone down _twice_ to see that _little lost stray_!" Ivan hissed.

Katyusha was still trapped near her desk. She hated when Ivan got into his fits. But she loved Natalia's tactics of trying to fight off and calm the Russian man.

"Ivan, dearest. Don't you trust me? Well… then…" Natalia nearly purred. She pulled him close, and since she had his arms around his back, she managed to pull him with her. Steadily, steadily, she led Ivan down the hall, freeing Katyusha. Kat followed Natalia and her brother down the halls, out in the cold night, and watched, shocked and astounded, as Natalia threw Ivan into the shed and locked the door.

"Come on. I'll call Eduard and tell him to let Ivan out in the morning. We're getting out of here…" Natalia said, grabbing Katyusha's hand and pulling her towards the car. Katyusha nodded, glad she was friends with Natalia… "We'll go to Monde. Let me get a few things together…"

Natalia nodded, "Hurry."

~*~

Things were getting busy at Matthew's house when the doorbell rang.

"I wonder of Tino brought Petie as his elf this time… how old is the kid?" Arthur asked, going to the door.

"Who knows. You'd think he'd be waiting for Santa to come by falling asleep himself, right?" Francis replied.

"I wonder if he knows that Santa Claus is actually his Mommy…" Alfie suddenly said.

Arthur smiled as he unlocked and opened the door, expecting to see the Nordic men on his stoop. Instead, he had a Ukrainian and a Belorussian, both definitely _not_ men.

"Uhmm… Mattie? Unless Tino got a sex change and managed to clone himself and alter the clone, I think we have more company from Fou…" Arthur said.

"Dammit! What happened?" Matthew asked, jumping up.

He managed to embrace both girls at the same time, as well as managing to drag them inside in the process.

"Sorry to burst in on you, but things got a little hectic up there with Ivan…" Natalia said.

Katyusha showed them their bags and other things, "We brought stuff. Can we stay down here for a couple… well… a while?" she asked.

Matthew looked at Alfred, who looked at Arthur who sighed, "Sure. If by a while you mean no longer than a week…"

"We can find a cheap apartment in that time…" Natalia said after a few minutes.

Matthew gave them a comical double take, "You're… moving down here?"

"I unofficially dumped Ivan, and Kat and I decided to move back down here while Ivan is… well… indisposed. He'll get out in the morning and… we just won't be there…" Katyusha said cheerfully.

"But we can stay here for a week?" Nat asked, turning to the head of the household.

Arthur was about to speak before the (real) head of the house nodded, "All right," Matthew replied.

"We'll even help you find a place to rent," Alfred said, looking at his housemates (and Francis). All nodded in agreement.

They stood around for a minute before Arthur became a gentleman again and took the ladies' bags. Then he remembered they were all going to fall asleep around the living room, and dropped them again. "Find some floor space. We'll pull out the bed tomorrow night, but… as of now, we were in the middle of an episode of _Gilmore Girls_ to open the door…" he said.

"I love _Gilmore Girls_!" Kat said. She picked up her bag, "Just let me get into my PJs and brush my teeth… and then I'll join you."

"I guess I _have_ to. I'll just change in that room there," Natalia said, pointing to Matthew's room.

"Don't mess with anything. Mattie might get feral," Alfie joked. Natalia paused with her hand on the door handle, then chuckled and opened the door into the room, shutting the door behind her.

"Hurry up you two~ Rory and Lorelei don't wait for no one and we don't either!" Arthur shouted. Nat banged the door loudly to shut him up, and Kat simply dropped an unwrapped tampon on Francis, who was lounging on the couch, staring awkwardly at Arthur. Francis shrieked, sending Matthew, Alfred, and Arthur into peels of rather unmanly giggling. Kat rolled her eyes and disappeared into the bathroom.

~*~

Both girls were given the couch, with Mattie and Arty sandwiching them. Francis called Arthur's chair, and Arthur was too busy fiddling with the DVD player to even care that the Frenchman was on his territory. Alfred opted for the floor, which was literally piled up with pillows from all three bedrooms in the house.

"There!" Arthur said, pressing play.

They watched the rest of one episode and then another before midnight hit, and there was another knock on the door.

"Does Tino still do Santa Clause?" Katyusha asked as Arthur jumped up.

"Yeah, and we're the last house on his list every Christmas," Arthur mumbled, opening the door angrily to the Finn.

"Hello~" Tino twittered, handing Arthur a stack of presents. Then he noticed Natalia and Katyusha. "Oh no… you guys are back? I didn't get you anything…"

"No problem, Tino… Our arrival was much too impromptu…" Katyusha replied, waving her hand in front of her face lightly.

"No, no… how are you supposed to feel when the others are opening presents and you have none?" Tino asked.

"I got some gifts for Natalia…" Kat said.

"And I got some for Kat," Natalia replied.

Tino nodded, "Well… all right. Merry Christmas!" he said before waving and turning around to get back into his 'sleigh.'

"Good night and Merry Christmas~" the entire household called. Arthur then closed the door and frowned first at the snow that had found its way on to the welcome mat, and then at the presents.

"We need to get you girls gifts," Arthur said firmly, placing the packages under the tree.

"No, no. We'll be content to watch you open ours…" Natalia said, pointing to the almost perfectly wrapped boxes under the tree. The boys had seen Katyusha put them under the tree.

"Nope… I'm going out to get you guys some gifts," Arthur snapped, "Mattie, come."

"Yes, _monsieur_," Matthew said almost subserviently, hopping up from the couch.

The girls weren't going to argue with Arthur. Once he had an idea, you really couldn't stop it. So they sighed, and made a shooing motion. Arthur and Matthew put on their hats and coats and ran out to the nearest store.

~*~

"Thank god we found someplace…" Arthur said, laughing as Matthew almost slipped on the ice.

Arthur unlocked the door to find the TV off and everyone piled on top of each other, fast asleep. Arthur shushed Matthew as he took the gifts to Matthew's room. They began wrapping the presents they had bought… until the grandfather clock struck two, and, amidst tape and scissors and all the presents neatly wrapped, they fell asleep in a pile in the corner of Matthew's room.

~*~

_Femmes_ – "females, women"

_D'accord_ – "Okay. All right."

~*~

_The plot thickens~ Oh, and I'm sorry to -my- Russia... There is a logical reason for Ivan's fits. I will explain that a little later on._

_Oh and... what? You haven't thrown an unwrapped tampon at a boy to make them shriek and cower in fear? It's tickles me pink! -giggles-_

_**Review, s'il vous plait. Si n'est pas... well... bad things may happen to you. -hides the Map of France behind her back-**_

_Adieu~_

_~Ana-chan~  
_


	15. Creating Miracles

~*~

Chapter Fifteen: Creating Miracles

~*~

An interesting, sweet smell, and some giggling by two very effeminate voices awoke Francis. He opened his blue eyes to the world, and the voices paused for a brief moment. He realized that he was under a rather strong body, and blinked. "Alfred… we have an audience…" he purred quietly.

Alfred blinked awake, only realizing the situation when Katyusha giggled lightly when Matthew walked in to the living room from the kitchen. "I made… Francis! Alfred has a boyfriend!"

Francis chuckled as Alfred screeched and jumped off the couch. Alfred's scream awoke Arthur, who emerged from Mattie's room. The whole situation made Natalia and Katyusha giggle violently. "So… Alfred is cheating on Yao with Francis, and now Arthur and Mattie are cheating on Ludwig and Lovino with each other? How will this episode of the Gilmore House end?" Katyusha asked.

"When did we become the Gilmore House? Aren't Matthew and his little friends Kiku and Feliciano the Gilmore Boys?" Francis asked.

"Oh?" Katyusha said, glancing that the aforementioned male.

Matthew smiled, "I'm Lorelei, Feli is Rory, and Kiku is Lane…"

"How cute!" Katyusha said, giggling, "Then fine. It's Desperate House-Husbands."

"Owwww…" Arthur groaned, "I _hate_ that show. That, and _Gossip Girls_ make my stomach churn."

"Yeah. You really can't beat _Gilmore Girls_," Alfred replied.

"_Monty Python's Flying Circus_ comes close," Arthur said, pointing his index finger at his friend. Alfred and Arthur nodded and began to think a little about it all.

"And I wasn't cheating on Lovi with Arthur. We were wrapping your gifts last night and we fell asleep _coincidently _in my room," Matthew whined in the girls' general direction.

"Is _that_ what you're calling it nowadays?" Natalia quipped, giggling.

Matthew rolled his eyes, "Breakfast is ready. Come eat before you get _too_ childish about your gifts. I may switch out yours with coal, Nat…"

"You wouldn't dare. Toris taught me Tae Kwon Do~!" Natalia said, running after the other's as they switched gears into breakfast mode.

~*~

After their morning meal of pancakes and (real) maple syrup, the group went back in the living room to open gifts. As was custom, Arthur and Alfred showed the other four what _they_ did every year, which was to split up the gifts into personal piles, and then go around in a circle and wrap them when one's turn came up.

Alfred went first. Then Arthur, then Francis, then Matthew, and then Katyusha and Natalia, respectively. Around and around they went, until the very last present was unwrapped. There was much squealing and laughter as presents were opened and enjoyed. The girls were impressed with Arthur and Matthew's gift choices, and cooed when they had found that the two men had included Francis's and Alfred's names in the 'From' box on their gifts, even though the aforementioned two had been fast asleep instead of up and helpful.

When all the presents were unwrapped, and the wrapping paper picked up, Arthur got dressed to take out the trash and recycling. "Hold on a minute, Arthur," Francis called.

_Oh no_… Arthur thought. He had a sneaking suspicion this would be about the other night when he and Francis had… well…

"What, Francis…"Arthur spat, his hands full of both a black trash bag and the recycling bin.

Francis was in and out of Matthew's room as quick as lightening, going in with just a pair of pajama bottoms, and coming out fully dressed. Arthur was… ah, no he wasn't. "How the hell do you do that?" Alfred asked.

"How do I dress so quickly?" Francis asked, a hint of a smirk on his face.

Alfred nodded, not sure if he wanted to know the answer now.

"It is a skill all great romancers should learn…" Francis replied, going over to a burdened Arty. He took the recycling bin from him and said, "Let me take that…"

"Not like I can say no _now_ you bloody twit," Arthur snapped, and opened the door without another word. Francis simply smiled at the others and followed Arthur out the door.

~*~

"Morning, Lovino~" Feliciano said as his brother opened a dark brown eyes to look around. It was Christmas morning, and Lovino had the bright idea of staying over at his brother's to wait for Tino. Tino knew that the brothers stayed with each other only on Holidays, and he could find them at Feliciano's, because he actually lived in a cozy house as oppose to a lonely apartment with a grouchy Swiss landlord.

So it would be the Sicilian's usual Christmas of eating pastries in the morning before opening three or four gifts from his brother and Tino, and then he would go home and read or watch TV. Then he would bring dinner to his aforementioned Swiss landlord and his adorable little sister (who Lovino would have asked out before he met Mattie, but… there was the problem with her cranky older brother…), and then he would go to bed. Yes, even his Holidays were boring.

"Mattie gave us presents this year…" Feli sang from the kitchen.

Lovi blinked and sat up, stretching out the odd kinks he got from sleeping on his younger brother's couch, "Oh?" he asked.

"Don't be cranky, Lovi. And Merry Christmas," Feliciano replied, coming out of the kitchen and kissing his brother's cheek.

Lovino couldn't help but blush a bit, but Feliciano was already back in the kitchen, getting the pastries set up for them to enjoy while they opened the still too few gifts under the small tree Feliciano had picked up because it was on sale. Lovino looked to the fireplace. That was his job that morning. So he knelt in front of the fireplace and began making a fire to warm them that morning.

After everything was ready, the two indeed began opening gifts. Feliciano, though, seemed more excited about a gift he asked his brother to open last. Lovino sighed as went through his usual gifts of books and oddball things from both his brother and Matthew. But the gift that Feliciano had asked for him to save was bigger than a book or an oddball trinket. It was square and flat… Finally, he was finished with the others, and Feliciano was done with his. He was staring at Lovino intently.

Lovino reached for the present, wrapped in plain brown paper with a cute bow colored with the Italian flag's colors. He gently pulled the bow off and tore into the present. There was gold, and then…

"Feli!" Lovino hissed, turning the picture frame around to see the image.

It was a picture of Feliciano and Lovino at the prom, painted in oils with Feliciano's flowery signature at the bottom. "You… you didn't!" Lovino said, gazing at the picture with tears in his eyes.

"I did," was Feli's answer. "Do you… like it, Lovi?"

Lovino stared at his brother, and then at the painting. Then he threw his arms around his adopted brother and pulled him close, the painting resting, propped against his hip, "I _love_ it," Lovi replied.

Feliciano smiled, "Good."

They pulled away, and Lovino went to gaze at the painting for another minute before picking up the wrapping. He took up the bow and stared at it for a minute. Then he glanced at his brother and put the bow on his brother's head. "There. Now _you're_ a Christmas present…" he said, a hint of smile on his face.

Feliciano smiled and hugged his brother, "Then Merry Christmas, Lovi. It's for you~"

~*~

Ludwig was having another crazy Christmas. (Anything involving Gilbert and a tape dispenser was crazy.) So it was a relief to hear the doorbell ring. Perhaps it was the Hungarian woman, here to be deliriously cuddly with his older brother… that would be worse than the tape dispenser incident…

But Ludwig found no one at the door, just a simply wrapped package. He picked it up, thinking it was for Gilbert or something. He read the note, though: _Merry Christmas, Ludwig. From: Kiku Honda_.

Ludwig blinked and opened the gift, placing the paper in the recycling bin right outside the door. Opening the box, he saw that the cardboard protected a wooden wind-chime. On the disk where the wooden pipes hung were carvings of the sun, moon, and stars. Ludwig smiled and brought it inside, walking past his brother to the stairs to his room. He opened the window and hung the beautiful instrument on a small poll that struck out over his window. It was too cold to keep the door open the listen to it, so he shut the window sadly.

Then he heard a deep, throaty sound even with the window closed. The wind was blowing, making the instrument play for him, and he could hear it clearly, even with the window closed. He smiled. "Thank you, Kiku…" he breathed.

~*~

"What do you want, Francis?" Arthur said, hating the Frenchman's closeness as they walked down the driveway to the place where the garbage and recycling were kept.

"Nothing," Francis replied.

"Don't give me that. You've been wanting to catch me alone since the party," Arthur replied.

"No," Francis replied, "But I think you _want_ me to have wanted to catch you alone since the party."

Damn that wine bastard. Arthur exhaled sharply and threw the garbage bag into the green bin while Francis opened the blue recycling bin and dumped the rather large pile of paper and cans into it. "It's not true."

"Whatever," Francis replied calmly. He took a wrapped box out of his pocket. It was small and thin. "But I'm still giving you this."

Arthur took it, eying is suspiciously, "Wh-Why?"

"Just open it…" Francis replied, putting his un-gloved hand back into his pocket.

Arthur glared at the Frenchman, but tore open the paper, throwing the ripped paper carelessly into the recycling bin. There was a black velvet box, and Arthur opened it carefully. He gasped lightly as he looked at what lay inside. It was a golden pen, and from the looks of it, it must have cost a lot. Francis didn't have much in terms of money, so this must have taken a long time to acquire…

"I… I can't take this… this must have cost so much for you…" Arthur said, looking back at Francis.

"Don't think about the price. Merry Christmas, Arthur…" Francis replied.

Arthur froze, "This better not be a way to get into my pants…"

Francis chuckled, "Not today, Arthur. Now, if you will excuse me…" he pushed past Arthur to walk to his house. Arthur turned quickly to catch his arm.

"Do you want a ride home, Francis?" Arthur asked.

Francis smiled, "No. But this was fun. I'll see you Monday…"

And with a quick smile from the Frenchman, he was gone. Arthur stood on the end of his driveway, gaping as Francis walked away. He held the velvet box in his hands, green eyes wide.

"M-Merry Christmas, Francis…" he whispered, his bushy eyebrows now furrowed with confusion.

~*~

_Let's just say, I needed to write this. I have been through so much these past few days that a little humor was needed. And here is some of it. But it's mostly cute. I think. I mean, I hope._

_So here you are:_

_**Please review. Please, oh please, oh please?**_

_Adieu~  
_


	16. Blessings

~*~

Chapter Sixteen: Blessings

~*~

"So… Ivan went nuts, and so Nat and Kat came down for Christmas?" Feliciano asked, handing first Kiku his drink and then Matthew. They had decided to pull a Bad Touch Trio and make the Café Rose their Lunch hang out. Kiku came from Poppy Crafts to eat a lunch of sandwiches and whatever drink looked good on the menu.

Natalia and Katyusha's stay at the house was winding down, and so far, nothing was going right. Kat had failed to get a job, and she was weighing poor Natalia down as well. The house hunt was futile, because everyone wanted to stay in their houses when it was below freezing and icy outside.

Matthew sighed as he answered, "Yeah… no one's giving up their house this winter, and the girls are really having trouble finding jobs.

Kiku blinked, "There are openings at Poppy Crafts…" he said.

The other two blinked at the Japanese man. He stared them down, "Yao didn't tell you guys?"

"Alfred hoards him. Never tells us anything that goes on. Even though we chat incessantly about _our_ boyfriends," Mattie said, glancing up as Ludwig and Arthur walked in the door at that moment.

"So… about these openings? What's going on at our favorite little craft store?" Feliciano asked, taking a sip of his espresso.

"Yao needs more help. I'm… just not good enough for him, so he needs more people…" Kiku said, knowing there was a joke about to happen.

"So… he wants to create a harem?" Matthew asked, blinking as his mouth curled into an evil-looking smirk.

Kiku shrugged and smiled, "I guess so. But Yao's so desperate for more workers, and… well… the girls are so sweet… scratch that. _Kat_ is so sweet that I'm sure he'll _have_ to give them jobs…" he said, seriously thinking about it. After a few minutes, he nodded, "And I have to extra rooms in my house… so I can rent them out to the girls--"

Matthew was already upon him, hugging him tightly and squishing him into the wall next to them, "Thank you so much~" and he kissed the Japanese man on the cheek.

Feliciano slapped his hand to his face as he laughed. Several girls in the room turned their eyes to the strange couple and squealed loudly upon the contact between Kiku and Mattie. Kiku simply blushed.

"I can now die. I've been molested by a French-Canadian…" Kiku said, pushing Matthew off of him.

"Aw~ You can't rape the willing!" Feli sang, making the three of them burst out into peels of laughter.

Francis, Gilbert, and Antonio were thoroughly displeased with everyone paying way too much attention to the Gilmore Boys at this point. But they, too, were playing too much attention to them as well, so they stayed put and said nothing.

"I'll come over this afternoon and we can discuss. I'll even bring Yao… if he isn't planning on coming over all ready…" Kiku said, returning to the matter at hand.

Matthew brushed himself off and nodded, taking a sip of the chai tea latte he had ordered. "Right. And if Yao _is_ already with us, can you drag him home? Whenever he's around there are strange noises coming from Alfie's room…" he said.

"BDSM?" Feliciano asked. If he had cat ears they would be perked up, just like his eyebrows and features in general.

Kiku had to put a hand over his blushing face as he laughed into the table. Matthew's eyebrows shot up, and a small smile appeared on his face. "We'll have to check them both for wounds this afternoon…"

"Ooh~ Fun, fun!" Feliciano squealed, clapping a few times, "Call me later about your findings, 'kay?"

They parted for their usual stations then, still blushing and giggling about everything said that lunch. Matthew had to admit, he kept looking over into the kitchen to see if he could get a glimpse of Alfred to see if he was hiding any new wounds…

~*~

"You want me to what, aru?" Yao Wang shouted as he was pushed up the driveway to Alfred, Arthur, and Matthew's house.

"It's not that big a deal, Yao… It's just two girls who are in dire need of jobs!" Kiku said. Yao wasn't struggling at all, but rather was just shocked that it was this easy. So far no one wanted to work with him and Kiku, and now, there were two girls out there who would do anything for a job, sans anything criminal, Yao hoped.

"Okay, okay, _Jesus_, Kiku, when did you become so pushy, aru?" the Chinese man asked.

"Since I met Mattie and Feli…" Kiku replied as he knocked on the door.

The door opened to Alfred, who swooped Yao up into a hug and dragged him inside. Matthew giggled and pulled Kiku into his house. Kiku was immediately hugged by Katyusha, who began to squeal lightly: "Thank you thank you thank you thank you!"

"Jeez… I guess this is an acceptance?" Kiku asked.

Natalia shook his hand, "We don't have much in the way of furniture…"

"The bedrooms used to be owned by my parents and older brother. They moved back to Japan and I never cleaned out the rooms, save for some posters and other décor from my brother's room… the beds are still there and they've been waiting for some attention," Kiku replied.

Natalia smiled, "Good…" she turned to Yao, "And you're desperate for more work at your craft store?"

Alfred had let go of the Chinese man he immediately had turned to the girls. "Yes. I am desperate, aru. What with this economy and the fact that both Kiku and I feel overworked, we need more people working with us, aru…" Yao explained.

"We can help!" Katyusha replied, putting her hand up as if she was a student raising her hand to ask a question or answer one.

"That I have no doubt, aru, but I need to interview you a little to make sure. You don't have any criminal backgrounds, aru?" Yao asked.

"Nope," Katyusha answered, shaking her head.

"Nuh-uh," Natalia replied.

"How are you with people?" Yao asked.

"Very good." Katyusha replied.

"I'll get use to them," Natalia answered.

The interview went on, and Yao even asked questions to Mattie, who was slowly remembering Natalia and Katyusha. All questions were answered truthfully and carefully. Finally Yao nodded his head, "Come on down tomorrow, then, aru," he said, a smile on his face.

Matthew and Katyusha hugged each other, and Kiku put his hands together up to his face, a bright smile on his pale face. "You guys can come over to the apartment tomorrow after work and get settled, as well…"

Katyusha hugged both Yao and Kiku at the same time, thanking them profusely, tears in her eyes. "We're so lucky to have you two in our lives. Thank you so, so, so much!"

"Yah~ You're welcome, Kat, aru!" Yao shouted.

Arthur sighed loudly, "Lord, this had been one _hell_ of a day. You guys want to go out and celebrate?" he asked.

The others smiled and nodded. It would be a nice night to do some celebrating before the girls moved out and started working down at Poppy Crafts.

"Wait, wait, wait!" Mattie cried, and lifted up Alfred's shirt. The others blinked, but Kiku merely giggled.

"Well?"

"I think Alfred is either the 'seme' or he hides the wounds pretty damn well," Matthew replied, walking over to his fellow Gilmore Boy.

Yao and Alfred turned to each other a blushed insanely at Matthew's comment. Arthur and the girls began to laugh. Kiku and Matthew smiled at their handiwork and began putting on their coats to go do some celebrating.

~*~

_Wow... I finally put Yao into the mix. I feel bad for leaving you out, hon. Here you go. Nat and Kat get everything they need. Go Kiku, go! _

_Oh, and I keep thinking about the Gilmore Boys and the Bad Touch Trio becoming like rival mobs in the mafia or something. Not that that's how its going to go down, but its a fun(ny) idea._

_Happy reading, **and please review.**_

_Adieu~_

_~Ana-chan~  
_


	17. My Telephone

~*~

Chapter Seventeen: My Telephone

~*~

Arthur was pensively looking at his cell phone. Matthew and Lovino glanced at Matthew's housemate every once-and-a-while as they enjoyed the ice cream they had decided to ingest. Things were definitely tight at that moment.

"What is it, Arty…" the French-Canadian sighed as Arthur's face turned into a look of shame and almost disgust.

"Apparently, Kiku is throwing a House-Warming/New Year's Party on New Year's Eve… and Ludwig just asked me to it…"

Lovino gaped, "I'm sure you knew about this, Mattie…"

Matthew looked first at Lovino and then Arthur. Kiku really was bad at telling people about certain things. He had certainly told his fellow Gilmore Boys, and Yao as well. Yao was certain to tell Alfred…

"I did," Matthew replied, pushing his glasses up his nose to a comfortable position.

Lovino sighed, "Then we're going together…"

Matthew paused. He had rather wanted to go alone… for some _odd_ reason, or ask his housemates to go with him… but going with dates hadn't crossed Matthew's mind. Nor had it crossed Arthur's mind, either… "Should I tell Ludwig I'll go with him?"

"Well… Ummm…" Now it was very, _very_ tight in the room.

At that point, Matthew's phone buzzed and he grabbed at it, "_Allo_?"

"_Mathieu? Est-ce que tu vas a la soiree le 31 decembre?_" Francis asked.

"_Je ne sais pas… et toi? Est-ce que tu vas a la soiree?_" Matthew asked.

"_Ouais~ Bien sur!_" Francis sang.

"_A… Avec qui, Francois?_" Matthew asked, lowering his voice and turning around.

"_Natalia. Jelouse?_"

"_Ah. Non, Francois._"

"_Oh,_" Francis replied.

They spoke in hushed tones for a little while, and then they said their goodbyes and Matthew closed his phone. Arthur looked at him expectantly, knowing that he had spoken to Francis. "Well?"

"Natalia invited Francis as her so-called date. They're going as friends… and Kat and Kiku said something about going as a 'date,' again, so-called… looks like…" Matthew went to Lovino and took his hands. "Let's go together…"

"Jeez… why did it take a call from Francis to make you say yes, Mattie?" Lovino asked, a slight growl in his voice.

Matthew blanched, but he was saved by Alfred barging in at that moment, the American man singing: "Yao and I have a daaaate on New Year's Eve~"

"Kiku's party?" Arthur asked.

"How did you know?"

"Matthew was keeping secrets from us," Arthur said, sticking his tongue out childishly at Matthew, who rolled his eyes.

"Oh. Well then yes. How about you two? Got dates?" Alfred asked.

"One sec…" Arthur said, typing furiously on his phone. After a few moments, he checked his phone and smiled, "I got one, and Mattie has one. We're all set…"

Alfred gave him a thumbs up before he plopped on the couch with his childhood friend and turned on the television. Matthew felt his phone buzz.

**OMG, Kiku said we're supposed to find dates?**

Feliciano had texted him. Matthew texted back a quick reply:

**Well… it just turned out that way. You can go alone, if you want…**

Buzz. Buzz. Buzz.

**That's so tacky. You're going with Lovino, and Kat and Kiku are 'going together.' Ludwig and Arthur are going together, I bet. Alfie is with Yao, I bet. FRANCIS PROBABLY HAS A DATE AS WELL! What am I going to do, Dad?**

Mattie sighed and texted back.

**Francis is going with Nat on a pity date. Won't last. And I thought you were over him?**

**No matter. Go with Gilbert. Worst comes to worst you'll leave him at the punch bowl with his 'beloved chick.'**

A few minutes later there was buzzing and flashing lights from Matthew's phone, and tired fingers opened the infernal machine.

**I called. He said yes. And then he said something to Ludwig. In German. Oh God, Mattie… THIS IS A FRICKIN' PITY DATE! I'M SO DEAD AFTER THIS! Better get me to a convent or something.**

Mattie sighed and texted:

**Breathe. The universe is on your side. You'll find someone soon. **

**And no matter how many times we call ourselves the Gilmore Boys, you must remember that YOU ARE MOST DEFINETLY A MAN. There will be no nunnery for you, Feli…**

Mattie thought he was done with the text fest, but no…:

**How did you know I was a boy, Mattie? Don't tell me you're a stalker!**

Mattie sighed and texted back quickly:

**Stop texting me. I'll see you at lunch tomorrow.**

**And I just suspected you were male by the bulge in your pants when Francis walked by a few weeks ago when you were still in love with him.**

**Unless you got a sex change since then… I think you're most definitely a boy.**

Matthew finished the text and sighed, turning off his phone just in case Feliciano just _had_ to text him again after his brilliant come back. Lovino looked at him and sighed. "Well… if we're done here, I'm going home."

Matthew kissed him on the mouth deeply, "It wasn't you. I just wanted to see if my housemates were taking dates before I really thought about going with you. But I'll go with you…"

Lovino blushed lightly and turned his head to the side, "Really?"

Matthew knew there was going to be a talk if he didn't act soon, "Really. It's not you. If anyone, it's Alfred and Arthur…"

Lovino nodded and made his way to the door, "I… still should be going."

Matthew nodded, "All right… see you on New Year's Eve…"

Lovino nodded and kissed Matthew's cheek before he got his coat and hat on and opened the door. Matthew waved one last time before he closed the door, Arthur's pensive look twisting on to his own face…

~*~

TRANSLATIONS:

_Est-ce que tu vas a la soiree le 31 decembre?_ – "Are you going to the party on December 31st?"

_Je ne sais pas… et toi? Est-ce que tu vas a la soiree?_ – "I don't know. And you? Are you going to the party?"

_Ouais~ Bien sur!_ – "Yeah~ Of course!"

"_A… Avec qui, Francois?_" – "W-With who, Francis?"

_Jelouse?_ – "Jealous?"

~*~

_Insane text message sessions and telephone calls. And the chapter is named after a Lady GaGa song. Props to those who got it._

_Oh, and, what's this? Are the couples slowly shifting? -le gasp- Maybe they are. You will see in the next few chapters. -wink-_

_**Please review. Bonus question: In the Gilmore Boys, which Boy is which of these three 'characters': Lane. Lorelei. Rory.**_

_Good luck and Adieuuuuu~_

_~Ana-chan~  
_


	18. Drop and Roll

~*~

Chapter Eighteen: Drop and Roll

~*~

"All right… so everyone is here… except Feliciano… is he hiding in the closet again?" Kiku asked. He and Matthew were in the kitchen, making sure the drinks and things weren't going to be mauled.

"Kiki… you know that Feli has never been in the closet in his life, right?" Matthew asked.

"Ha ha, you made a gay joke," Kiku replied, flicking male Lorelei behind the ear.

"Ow! Yes I did," Matthew replied, smiling, "And I'm sure Feliciano is just despairing over the fact that he came with Gilbert."

Kiku was suddenly confused, "Can you enlighten me as to _why_ that's a bad thing?" he asked.

"It's not Gilbert, if that's what you're asking. He and Gilbert are actually on good terms with each other… it's just the fact that this is sort of a pity date, and Feliciano wishes it wasn't…" Matthew replied.

"Does Feli have a new crush?" Kiku asked.

Matthew shook his head, "No."

Kiku blinked, but said nothing more as Feliciano came in, panting lightly as he found his two other friends and nearly commando rolled over to them. "Why…?" Matthew asked.

"Gilbert wouldn't let me go anywhere. It's like it was an actual date or something…" Feliciano replied, chocolate eyes wide.

"Isn't that what you wanted?" Kiku asked, suddenly _very_ confused.

"Not with Gilbert. Not that he's a bad guy or anything. Eliza is just infatuated with him, and when he's not fawning over his chick, he's fawning over her. I mean, why couldn't I bring, like, Bella or someone?" Feliciano whined, sitting on a stool in the kitchen and putting his head in his arms on the table.

"Oh, woe is you, Feliciano," Matthew replied, ruffling the brunette's hair a little, "And you're gay. She would suspect something was up."

Feli picked his head up wearily and fixed a brown glare on the French-Canadian, "Ha ha. You made a gay comment…"

"Again," Kiku added.

"I'm on a roll tonight, aren't I?" Matthew asked, receiving a flick each on both ears from Kiku and Feliciano.

"Then I could have taken Feliks! Or Roderich! God! Why didn't I call poor, broken-hearted _Roderich_!" Feliciano was shouting.

"Or you could have taken Vash," Matthew pointed out.

Feli looked at him, "No! Vash has a gun fetish. I'd totally go for Gilbert first before I ran to Vash…"

Arthur cleared his throat, "Everyone says they'd rather do _anyone_ but Vash. The poor guy needs some love…"

"Are you volunteering?" Matthew asked, "Because I'm sure Ludwig wouldn't mind a threesome."

"… Don't… talk about Ludwig. I came back here to get away from him, and I don't need him to always be around me…" Arthur said.

Matthew blinked, "It's the same with me and Lovino. God… we must be really bad boyfriends if we're sitting in the host's kitchen to avoid them…"

Kiku blinked, "Are… you and Ludwig in a fight, Arty?"

"No… we're not. The… fire just isn't there anymore…" Arthur replied.

"Same with me and Lovi…" Matthew said.

"You haven't had sex with the boy, Mattie…" Arthur retorted, turning on his housemate.

Matthew blushed, "Does that mean you and Ludwig…" he stopped, "Uh… never mind. I don't want to know what you and Ludwig get up to at night…"

"Same with Alfred and Yao. We want to know… and yet we don't," Kiku replied, and the Gilmore Boys broke out into a mighty fit of laughter.

Arthur was thoroughly confused, but he let the inside joke drop. "You think… we should break it off so we don't hurt them later on?" he asked Matthew once he was over his laughing fit.

Matthew sighed, getting the last of the crazy out of his system, "That may be good. It may hurt them now, but they can more easily find a new relationship in the New Year, right?"

Arthur sighed, "Then I'm off. Wish me luck, Gilmore Boys…"

"Not before you wish _me_ luck, _Your Majesty_…" Matthew retorted.

"Then good luck, _Lorelei_…" Arthur replied, nodding.

Matthew nodded in response, "You too… don't be _too_ much of a heart breaker…"

Arthur smiled and went back outside the kitchen to confront Ludwig. Matthew took a deep breath, and went out into the crowd to find Lovino. "Good luck~" Feliciano hissed before he disappeared. Mattie simply smiled and took off.

~*~

"Arthur, there you are!" Ludwig called. He was comforting a crying Yao.

"What's this?" Arthur asked, "Don't tell me Alfred dumped you _again_…"

"V-Very perceptive, A-arty," Yao sobbed, attempting a smile.

"Damn him… I'll put him away in a time-out the next time I see him. Or have him beheaded…"

Arthur had been known to shoot down others' pain with sarcasm. Besides, this was probably Alfred just wanting to be 'off-again' with Yao. But it was painful to watch Alfred being so wishy-washy with poor Yao's heart… but wasn't Arthur about to do the same thing?

"Yao… I'm sorry to have to ask you this when Alfred is such an asshole… but can you leave Ludwig and I alone?" Arthur asked.

Yao saw the look of sadness in Arthur's face and nodded, getting up off of the couch they had commandeered and walking away. Arthur sat down. Ludwig glanced at him, "No make-out session?"

Arthur bit his teeth down and then sighed loudly, almost like the world would end in that one sigh. "We need to break up."

Ludwig was not the sort to cry. Though he was weirded out by Arthur's sudden confession, and… he had sort of seen it coming. "Yes, I think that's about right."

Arthur turned to him, mouth agape, "What?"

"Well… we've obviously got no flame between us anymore. And… to tell you the truth… there's someone else…"

Arthur nodded, not getting angry because… it was true with the Brit as well. "You haven't been cheating on me, have you?"

"No… I'm not that kind of guy, Arty…" Ludwig said.

"And it won't be weird at work?" Arthur asked.

"No. We can still be friends, as well. I don't fire ex-lovers, Arty," Ludwig replied.

Arthur nodded and stood, "Well… see you Monday, in that case…" and he left the area, hoping to find Yao or… that special person he had broken up with Ludwig for (kind of).

~*~

Matthew was uneasy about how Lovino would handle his confession. But if Lovi really loved him… no, that was too painful to think about. Matthew sighed as he went over the words in his head. And there he was. The Sicilian was talking to (or rather, yelling at) Gilbert about coming with his brother and what that exactly entailed.

"It means nothing, Lovi… let it go!" Gilbert yelled. Lovi was about to say something when he noticed that Gilbert was looking at Mattie.

"Hello, Mattie… do you want to take back your boyfriend now? He's really annoying the hell out of me…" Gilbert almost pleaded with him.

"This isn't over, you bastard!" Lovino yelled as Matthew gently took the brunette's hand in his own and led him away from any crowds. As soon as they were alone, Lovino went in to kiss him, but Matthew shied away. "What… What's wrong, Mattie?" Lovino asked, blinking dark eyes at the French-Canadian.

"Do you feel fire?" Matthew asked cryptically.

"Do I…?" Lovino blushed when he mind plunged into the gutter, "Are you… coming on to me?"

Matthew looked up at him and shook his head, "I don't feel anything for you anymore, Lovino…"

"You… is it because of Francis?" Lovino asked, quick as a chess-clock thumper.

"No. This is because I don't want to hurt you. I want… I want us to see other people. I'm breaking up with you…" Matthew said, closing his eyes lightly, "Happy new year…" he added, prying his hands off of Lovi's waist and turning to go. Lovi's eyes narrowed. He needed to say the final words, but nothing was coming out of his flapping mouth. So he pulled the French-Canadian close to him once more and kissed him on the mouth before letting him go.

"See you around, Mattie…"

And Matthew was suddenly alone…

~*~

"Are you enjoying the party?" Nat asked.

Francis smiled his winning smile and nodded, "It's very nice."

He noticed that Natalia was distracted by a certain short-haired woman who was laughing with Kiku and Roderich, who had decided to come anyway. Gilbert had promptly left, leaving poor Feliciano to mope in the kitchen with Matthew.

"But you don't seem to be enjoying it. I'm sorry I have a little more testosterone then your secret love over there, Natalia…" Francis said, grinning lightly at the blonde girl.

Natalia blushed and snapped her attention to Francis, "How?"

"How do I know? Because I often stare at the person _I_ love longingly when he's around. Why don't you go snag her. I think midnight's rolling around, and it's tradition to kiss someone to bring in the New Year…"

Natalia looked at him for a second, dumfounded and wide-eyed. "Thank you, Francis…"

Francis's eyes softened as she felt her arms lightly around his waist. Though he was a ladies' man, Natalia and Katyusha were friends now, and he knew it. They were like his sisters, and he wanted the best for them. He hugged her with one arm and she took off.

"Kat… can I talk to you?" Nat asked, tapping her friend's shoulder.

Kat nodded and allowed her smaller friend to lead her away from Rod and Kiki.

"… How are you liking the party?" Natalia asked.

"It's fun. All my friends are here, and Ivan is no where in sight!" Kat replied cheerfully. Natalia nodded.

"He'll never find us here, either…" Natalia replied, a light smile on her face as she looked up at her friend.

There was a sudden tapping noise, like a spoon on a glass. They looked over at Roderich, who was making an announcement.

"Ten seconds 'til midnight!" he shouted, throwing his arm into the air and nearly dropping the glass in his other hand.

The countdown began: "10!"

~*~

"9!" the crowd shouted as Feliciano and Matthew stepped out of the kitchen.

Not that they would kiss anyone once the ball dropped. Unless Kiku wanted to be 'molested' by the French-Canadian again…

But they wanted to bring in the new year with Kiku, but when they exited the aforementioned Japanese man's kitchen, the other was no where to be seen. Feliciano noticed Lovino sitting in the corner and looked over at Matthew, who nodded for him to go and comfort his ex-boyfriend. Feliciano did just that, sitting next to Lovino and putting his arms around him and pulling Lovi's head into his chest.

~*~

"8!" the crowd shouted.

Kiku had found Ludwig on his couch, still sitting there from when Arthur had broken up with him.

"Are you all right?" Kiku asked.

Ludwig nodded stoically and patted the seat next to him. Kiku blushed and looked off to the side before Ludwig grabbed his hand, laughing, and pulling him down on top of him. Kiku was really blushing now…

~*~

"7!"

After Feliciano left him, Matthew was poked in the side by one Alfred Jones. He smiled at him and said, "Sorry about Lovi…"

"Sorry about Yao…"

Wasn't their break-ups initiated by _them_? So why were they apologizing for the other person in the deteriorated relationship? No matter. Midnight was approaching, and Alfred had to act quickly, he grabbed Mattie's hand, and the violet-eyed male looked up at him, "What?"

Alfred stopped him with a wink as he pulled the French-Canadian close to him and looked up at Roderich, who was literally conducting the crowd in counting…

~*~

"6!"

Francis had found him. After many rumors from Yao he had gleaned that Ludwig and Arthur had successfully broken up. And it was the Brit's fault, apparently, though the Frenchman couldn't be sure. Rumors weren't always correct.

He found Arthur leaning against the wall, not smiling or even participating. Francis cleared his throat and Arthur looked over at him, blushing slightly.

"There you are, Arty," Francis purred, stepping closer to the Brit.

Arthur didn't budge from his position.

~*~

"5!"

Katyusha knew what was about to happen. She was closest to Natalia, and ever since the Christmas party, she had been wanting to kiss Nat again. She put her arms around Natalia to ready herself, and Natalia blushed, but didn't even _think_ about running this time. She knew she loved Katyusha now… and she wasn't afraid of it.

~*~

"4!"

Lovino had no one to kiss to bring in the New Year. Except his brother, who was holding him close. And Lovino wanted to… to kiss Feli for some odd reason. His heart picked up speed in his chest and he looked up at his younger 'brother' for a brief minute before Feliciano noticed. There was a glimmer in those deep brown eyes, and Lovi saw it. Feliciano smiled and brought his face down to Lovino's. The Sicilian could feel his brother's breath on his lips, and a blush formed on his face. Were they really going to…?

~*~

"3!"

Kiku was most definitely poised above Ludwig in a _very_ compromised position. One hand was under Ludwig's armpit, and the other was touching the German's collarbone slightly. One knee was on the couch in between the blonde's legs and the other was outstretched, barely reaching the floor. Grey eyes met with blue eyes, and Ludwig was smirking lightly, his breath tickling the Japanese man's lips playfully.

Kiku was blushing maniacally, and he knew who he was kissing that night. Ludwig had that glint in his eye, and a small line of pink covered his cheeks and nose. It was quite adorable that Kiku was so shy with Ludwig, and the German could tell that there was definitely chemistry sparking between them…

~*~

"2!"

Alfred's face was so close to Matthew, and his breath was beginning to make the French-Canadian dizzy. Ever since kissing him out in the snow, there had been some spark between them, that Alfred knew. Even as Lovino asked the French-Canadian out, Alfred had loved him. And Mattie had something toward him as well, especially after coming home from his first tea with the other Gilmore Boys. He had been cute around the American that day, until Lovino had picked him up for their date, at least. But Matthew had dumped the Sicilian, and Alfred had cut things off between him and Yao.

"Shall we re-enact our meeting, Mattie?" Alfred asked, his voice low and sexy…

~*~

"1!"

Arthur could see the other couples on the floor touching each other, faces coming together nicely. He saw Alfred and Matthew, Lovino and Feliciano, Katyusha and Natalia, even Kiku and Ludwig. But he didn't linger on any of them as he felt Francis's arms around him and his body pulled in to the Frenchman's embrace. He soon felt Francis's lips on his own, and pushed up a little to deepen the kiss lightly. Francis tasted sweet, like fine wine and rose petals. And Arthur liked Francis's light touch as he gently pushed Arthur back into the wall, deepening the kiss even more.

"HAPPY NEW YEAR!"

~*~

_Eight freakin' pages to get the five couples to kiss each other when the ball drops. Dayum. But here you are. All couples are pretty much accounted for in this one._

_Now to write the aftermath of each kiss ^^_

_**Review, s'il vous plait et merci~!**_

_Adieu~_

_~Ana-chan~  
_


	19. Don't Be My Hero Girl

~*~

Chapter Nineteen: Don't Be My Hero-Girl

~*~

Katyusha felt warm. Warmer than usual, at least. She loved Kiku's house and the fact that they were all roommates now was spectacular. But this warmth was a little different. It was more intimate. Her eyes opened and she looked around like a newborn that had just opened their eyes to the world. There were arms around her. Long sleeves covered those arms, and a blue blouse and jeans covered her. And she hadn't gotten totally hammered… so…

The person behind her stirred and Kat immediately remembered her kiss with Nat at midnight.

"Morning, Natalia," Katyusha said, shifting so that the two girls were face to face on Kat's bed.

"Morning, _Katyusha_… what's with using our full first names?" Natalia asked.

"No reason… how did you sleep?"

"Better than I ever have…" the white-blonde replied after a few moments of thought.

Katyusha simply smiled and kissed her on the side of her mouth. Natalia's heart fluttered happily in her chest, and she was forced to close her eyes against the gentle touch of her friend. When she opened her eyes again, Katyusha was smiling at her.

"You could have just told me, you know," she said.

Natalia blushed lightly at the comment, "I know. I thought… you would reject me and things would get weird…"

"Well thank heavens for Francis, hm?" Kat asked.

"Yes… I'll call him," Natalia said, stretching so she could get up.

Kat stopped her by wrapping her arms around the other woman and pulling her into her body. "I'm still sleepy, Nat," she whined cutely.

Natalia chuckled at put her arms around the other and put her nose into Kat's short hair. "You know, this is nice…"

"I'm glad," Kat replied chuckling.

Natalia seemed to remember when they were kids how, even in middle and high school, they used to sleep like this. After Katyusha had been dumped by boyfriends, or if Natalia got a bad grade on a test, they could just have a sleepover on a Friday or Saturday night and cuddle like this. They were best friends, so what could being this intimate hurt? Now… now…

"I love you, Katyusha…" Natalia whispered, mostly into the other woman's hair.

Katyusha smiled, eyes closed as she snuggled closer, "I love you too…"

They were silent for a minute or two as they both just breathed, safe in each other's arms.

"So… Francis should know about us, at least," Kat said after a while.

"Yes… everyone should know about us," Natalia said, looking down at her, "You're not embarrassed about us, are you?"

"Oh no! No, no, no! I was just… We should… We shouldn't tell Ivan…" Katyusha said.

Natalia was put off by this statement: Ivan should be fine with them, right? Or he could at least understand. Even if he knew, Natalia could take care of herself and him if he tried anything…

"I just don't want you to get hurt because of him, Nat…" Katyusha added.

Natalia blinked. She could… had Katyusha been blind all these years? She could handle the brute when he got into his fits! She was stronger than any of the others when dealing with Ivan! "Kat… I appreciate the thought, but… I've been through what you have, and I know how to deal with him…"

"I know… but it's different now… I… I want you to be my lover. But we grew up in a conservative family and… you've seen Ivan in his fits. This could get you hurt this time…" Katyusha replied.

Natalia got up from the bed and sat at the end of the bed, "That's… sweet. But I always thought I was _your_ hero…"

"You are… but now it's my turn…" Kat replied, pushing herself up on to her elbows. She yanked at Nat's shirt, "Are you mad?"

"A little, yes!" Nat shouted, putting her head into her hands.

"I'm sorry! I just don't want to tell Ivan! He's delicate, and this might put him on the edge! Tell me you don't _want _to tell him, Natalia," Katyusha retorted, sitting up with her knees tucked under her torso.

Natalia put her head up and looked across the room at a picture of Cupid and Psyche as children. She shook her head after a minute, closing her eyes. "No… but I have a feeling we _should_. He's your _brother_, for God's sake!" she said, finally looking back at the other girl.

Katyusha nodded, "Yes… but I don't want to right now. Let's see how our relationship goes before we tell him…" Katyusha reason, putting her arms arounf the white-blonde and putting her forehead on her shoulder.

Natalia sighed, "All right…" she reasoned, nodding. She stared back at the painting for a minute before grabbing her phone off the bedside table. "I'm calling Francis to thank him…"

"All right…" Katyusha said, her forehead still on her shoulder.

Nat found Francis's number in her Contacts and pressed for the phone to dial. After letting it ring, she thought it would go to voicemail before a woman picked up. "Allo?" she asked, her accent thick.

"Ah… Bonjour, madam… is Francis home?"

"Who is this?" the woman asked.

"Uhh… Natalia Arlovskaya. I'm a friend of Francis. Who is this?"

"I am Sesel. I work for Mr. Bonnefoy. He's busy right now. He has a…_ friend_ over…"

"Oh… who?" Nosy Natalia asked.

"A Mr. Arthur Kirkland…" Sesel replied, clearly bored out of her mind.

Katyusha, who had pressed her ear against the phone so that they could both hear what. They stared at each other for a moment before Sesel spoke again, "Would you like to leave a message for the master?" she asked.

"No… we'll call back later…" Natalia said, and, without saying goodbye, snapped the phone shut.

Kat and Nat stared at each other, wide-eyed, until Nat spoke, "Well… I guess we weren't the _only_ couple that got together last night…" she said, looking down at her phone once more and grinning like the hyenas in _The Lion King_.

~*~

_Yeah... Sesel is Seychelles, by the way. Her family has been employed by the Bonnefoys forever. So ha. Natalia and Katyusha are finally together and, what's this? What is Arthur doing over at Francis's house? Oh my, my, you'll find out soon. -winks-_

_Sorry for the delay. I went to Nii-sama's house (France), and then I was stuck with writer's block when I returned. But now I give you another chapter of CdH!_

_**Please review!**_

_Adieu!**  
**_


	20. The Good Slash Forever Fangirl Alliance

~*~

Chapter Twenty: The Good Slash Forever Fangirl Alliance

~*~

"_HAPPY NEW YEAR'S!"_

_Lovino jumped back from the kiss fast as lightening. "I… uhh…" he said, his cheeks reddening. _

_Feliciano was confused as well, and he dropped his arms and scooted away as fast as he could. "I… yeah…" he replied incoherantly._

_People were laughing and some were already leaving the house to go home, while others were just milling around, telling each other stories of the past year, or congratulating each other. Katyusha and Natalia were gracious and pulled away from each other to say goodbye to people who were leaving. Matthew said goodbye to Feliciano quickly, leaving Alfred behind. Lovino watched the exchange, and then bolted towards the door as soon as Matthew closed it to go home._

_Feliciano said goodnight to Kiku before leaving the party, touching his hand to his lips shyly. Had that just happened?_

~*~

"And so you kissed him?" Little Heidi asked.

Lovino had run home that night and went to bed. In the morning, Vash had called in for his rent, and he said he had it, but he wasn't coming over to give it to him. Heidi, being the sweet girl she was, went over to Lovi's apartment to check on him. They wound up talking, with Lovino spilling his guts to his landlord's sister.

"Yes, I did, okay?" he yelled.

His head was in her lap, and she was stroking his hair to calm him down. The 20-year-old girl was in college now, taking night classes to become a photographer. She was being taught, incidentally, by one Elizabeta Hedervary. They were working on a book of photography as a 'day' project in the meantime. Because it was New Year's nobody in the town of Monde was working.

"What's wrong with that? You love him, don't you?" Heidi asked.

Lovino blanched, "He's my brother!"

"He's… you're adopted brother. Feelings like the ones you're harboring for Feli aren't wrong. If you guys were brothers by blood it would be worse. But since you're adopted… surely it's not _that_ bad, right?" Heidi asked.

Something slightly shojo-sounding went off and Heidi excused herself.

"Hello?" she asked as she closed the door to the bathroom, leaving Lovino to brood.

"SESEL JUST CALLED ABOUT FRANCIS AND ARTHUR!" cried a flustered Hungarian, aka Elizabeta.

Heidi sighed, "Yes? And Lovino's whining about kissing Feliciano…"

"Sesel told Natalia and Katyusha about Francis and Arthur, as well…" Eliza said, calmer this time.

"New recruits?" Heidi asked, calm as ever.

Eliza seemed to think about it. "Call Sesel and Bella, we're having a meeting. I'll arrange a way to get Kat and Nat in on our schemes. Good Slash will reign supreme!" and with that, Heidi heard a click on the other end. She smiled and shook her head, opening the bathroom door and excusing herself before saying her goodbyes.

"If you need anything, Lovino, please don't hesitate to call us. Big brother is really very sweet when he's not terrorizing you for money," the cute little college girl said, and with that, she left the Sicilian's apartment.

~*~

"Why did Eliza wish to meet us _here_." Kat asked, opening the door to the Monde University theatre.

"Beats me. I always knew she was a little weirdo…" Natalia replied, shrugging.

It was unbelievably dark in the theatre, and both girls wondered what the hell was going on. Suddenly, someone grabbed their arms and pulled them onstage, where a spotlight turned on them. They weren't quite used to the light, and so they shielded their eyes.

"What the fuck?" Natalia asked, trying to see through the brightness.

"Natalia Arlovskaya and Katyusha Lizinski!" Elizabeta's harsh voice said (from the technical booth, probably).

Three cloaked figures appeared from offstage and loomed over the two awkwardly as Eliza continued, "How did you guys feel when Sesel told that Arthur had _slept over_ at Francis's?" she asked.

Katyusha and Natalia glanced at each other, by now totally pissed off and used the blinding light in their faces.

"I thought it was about time!" Natalia shouted. "Those two have been dancing around each other since _who_ knows how long!"

"And Feliciano and Lovino?" Heidi's little voice piped up from one of the cloaks.

"They kissed each other at the party?" Sesel.

"Good for them. They deserve each other. Who cares if they were brothers. It's not by blood, right?" Natalia replied, still angry at these silly, _silly_ girls.

"How about your very own Matthew. With Alfred? Hm? And Kiku with Ludwig?" Bella. Francis's cousin, as it were.

"Matthew and Alfred? Perfect! Matthew kissed Alfred out in the snow, didn't he? Even _he_ knew he would one day wind up with Al!" Katyusha called out, "And Kiku has been in love that German since day one! Let him have his fun!"

Elizabeta turned off the stage light and ran down the steps into the house. "Perfect! You will be grand recruits to the Good Slash Forever Fangirl Alliance!"

"Huh?" Katyusha asked as Natalia burst out laughing.

"What?" Bella asked, taking off her hood to stare at the white-blonde. "It's not funny!"

"Well… you must admit it is a little…" Katyusha replied, putting a hand on her girlfriend's back as she laughed harder, "I mean… what's your deal? Why did you form this little…" and the use of air-quotes "'Alliance?'"

"Because those men are stupid and they needed to find each other," Elizabeta replied, crossing her arms over her chest.

"Yes," Heidi said, taking off her hood. Sesel followed suit and smiled at Natalia and Katyusha. "I've known Lovino since he moved into my brother's apartment building. He's been a very sad soul save for the times when Feliciano's called or come over. And I've always seen Feliciano's eyes darken when he's had to leave Lovino…"

"So they're happiest when they're together," Elizabeta reasoned.

Bella stepped forward, ""I'm cousins with both Ludwig and Francis… well, Ludwig is kind of our second cousin or something. Long story short, we were over at each other's houses in the summertime, all three of us. Francis told me a story about how Arthur and him met. Arthur thought he was a girl, so that was how they forged a relationship. But once Francis was found out as a boy, things changed. Long story short, my French cousin has been pining for Arthur since they were kids. As for Ludwig… well, he's too low-maintenance for someone like Arthur… or any of his _other_ boyfriends…"

"In other words, Arthur and Francis Forevaz, and Ludwig and Kiku should totally get together…" Elizabeta replied.

"And Matthew and Alfred?" Katyusha asked as Natalia stopped laughing at straightened herself out a little.

"Isn't it obvious?" Sesel piped up, "Fate had Alfred and Arthur find Matthew that day. Made him come into Alfred's life especially. They _kissed_, so that's got to be a sign of _something_…"

Katyusha thought about it, "And… you had nothing to do with that party last night, did you?" she asked, suspicious.

"Us? No. They found all that out on their own. Though Gilbert and I might have talked incessantly about Kiku up until then," Eliza replied wickedly.

"FATE—" Sesel said, kicking her leader in the shin and making her fall over onto the floor in very dramatic agony, "—made the events of last night happen. Some of it is good, some of it is bad, but now we're assembling our Alliance to keep awkward pairings from happening. Like, I'm sorry to say, when Alfred and Yao were together. I mean, seriously…"

The other girls grumbled a bit about that 'awkward pairing' as Eliza got up, peeved that none of her girls had tried to help her or punish Sesel for kicking her down. She dusted herself off, "We think you two would be worthy members of the Alliance, as you have a past with Matthew and live with Kiku…" she said, mentally forgiving Sesel.

Natalia thought about it for a minute. It would be nice if the boys weren't so stupid about each other…

"We'll do it," Katusha said, giving the brunette a thumbs up.

Eliza returned it, "Great!"

Then Bella spoke again, "I have a feeling we're forgetting about someone…"

~*~

Feliciano.

Feliciano was in the dark in his room. He was so confused now, and he had no one to call. Matthew had looked flustered when he had left, and so Feliciano didn't want to talk to him just yet in case he was sorting through his own problems.

He looked at the clock. It was noon. Matthew had to be up now, right? And over himself? Feli sighed, grabbed his coat and his keys, and headed to his car to go to the French-Canadian's house _pronto_…

~*~

_Oh god. Elizabeta wasn't getting enough attention, so she kind of took over my brain. So that's how the Good Slash Forever Fangirl Alliance was born. _

_Oh, and Eliza was reminding a little of Renge from Ouran High School Host Club. And Heidi (Lictenstein) is Sakura from Tsubasa Reservoir Chronicle at this point. Bella is, again, Belgium. Sesel is still Seychelles. I'm their real master, by the way._

_Anyway, **PLEASE REVIEW OR ELSE THE GIRLS WILL PICK AND USE THEIR WEAPONS OF CHOICE!!!! I have a pen. Be afraid. Be very afraid. A review......**_

_Adieu~**  
**_


	21. Rosebud

~*~

Chapter Twenty-One: Rosebud

~*~

"_HAPPY NEW YEAR'S!"_

_Kiku pulled away from Ludwig's kiss quickly, blushing madly at him. Ludwig simply laughed. "I thought you would enjoy being kissed by me…"_

"_I… I liked it…" Kiku assured him, "But… this… this position is a little awkward…"_

_As he said this, he got up and looked around. Feliciano came up to him and said goodbye just as a whole plethora of people were leaving, either flustered or totally confused. Kiku looked back down at Ludwig, who was getting up._

"_Thank you… Ludwig," Kiku said, looking at the floor in front of him._

_Ludwig chuckled and put two fingers under Kiku's chin, making the Japanese man look him in the eyes. "I can be yours, you know," he said._

_Kiku blushed deeper, "I'll… uh… think about it."_

_Ludwig nodded, the smile still apparent on his lips. "Call me when you have an answer…"_

_And with that, Ludwig went to go find his brother and leave the party._

~*~

_He kissed me… he wants to be mine…_ Kiku thought, staring at his cell phone. Would Ludwig be up now? It was almost eleven, and Katyusha and Natalia were milling around the house, cleaning up after the party last night, since they certainly weren't going to clean at 1 in the morning. Kiku was hardly paying attention to them as he stared at the phone.

Suddenly, someone's phone went off, and all three in the room lunged for their phones, all making a greeting into the phone as they did so. Turns out it was Katyusha's phone:

"Hello? Ah! Hello, 'Liza… What? What? Okay… slow down, please. Will Natalia and I meet you at the Monde University Theatre in an hour? Sure? Okay! All right! See you there soon!" Kat chirped.

After snapping her phone shut, she and Natalia had a few moment of staring at each other before they continued bustling around the house, cleaning and what-not. Kiku decided not to ask about it. It would probably come out on its own. Besides, Elizabeta was known for being an odd one. Kiku guessed that Gilbert liked strangeness in that case. He went back to staring at his phone.

~*~

About an hour passed and he heard his girls bustling out of the house, shouting goodbyes as they did so. Had Kiku really been staring at his phone for an hour? Gosh, he was hung up on Ludwig and _hard_. He finally picked up the darn thing and went into his contacts to call Ludwig (no self-respecting stalker would be caught dead without their 'victim's' number in their phone…). He heard it ring and hoped to any higher spirits that Ludwig was at least awake. It was 12 now, so someone _had_ to be up.

"Hello?"

It was Ludwig. Kiku held his breath for a moment.

"Hello? Kiku, I know this is you, I have caller ID, you know…" Ludwig said.

Kiku had forgotten how to speak for a brief moment, "Uuh… yeah. Hi."

"Hi, Kiku… do you have an answer for me?"

Kiku was a little light headed, and so, he was somewhat confused.

"Kiku?" Ludwig asked.

"Oh, right… my answer is…" Kiku's brain seemed to have just kicked into drive now, "My answer is yes."

~*~

They talked for a long time. Kiku even had to plug in his phone in the middle of a sentence, and he was pretty sure he was going over his minutes. It was all right. Kat and Nat were still at the University Theatre with Eliza, and Ludwig and he had a lot of questions for each other.

"You haven't been with many people, have you?" Kiku suddenly asked, regretting it.

Ludwig laughed, "A few flings in high school, then nothing until Arthur…" he said, making the answer… well, less embarrassing, "You didn't know?"

"No… I'm… I'm not a _real_ stalker…" Kiku announced, blushing.

"Oh. Well… yes. I was with Roderich, Feliciano and Bella for about a week each before I broke up with Roderich, Feliciano asked Roderich to the Prom instead of me, and Bella turned out to be a lesbian," Ludwig replied, then: "How about you?"

"Ummm… I've only been with Yao. On and off," the Japanese man replied warily.

"Oh… so you're somewhat of a virgin?" Ludwig teased, "I mean, you've only been with one man… so… was he your first?"

"First what?" Kiku asked, regretting it.

"_Lover_," Ludwig said slowly.

Kiku shivered at the thought, "No! Nononono! I never had _s-ex_ with Yao! It was an innocent fling!"

Ludwig chuckled, "You're so cute, Kiku," he said.

Kiku blushed again, "N-No. I'm still a virgin. And I'd like to stay that way until I've found… the one…"

This seemed to put Ludwig off a little. Kiku would like to… stay a virgin? But he wanted this relationship to work, so he breathed in, composed himself, and said, "All right. We can stay abstinent. But don't make me get down on one knee just to make you change your mind about this…" he teased lightly.

Kiku blushed on the other end and was silent. Ludwig sighed and said, "All right… I think I hear Gilbert shuffling around upstairs. He's got a date with Elizabeta and I should go help him. I'll see you later?"

"Yes… later. And… thank you."

"No, thank you. You're the one with the answer…" Ludwig replied.

"Right. Goodbye, Ludwig."

"Goodbye, Kiku."

Kiku stared at his phone for about a minute until he noticed that Kayusha and Natalia had snuck in and were staring at him, arms crossed over their chests. "Well?"

"I said yes," was Kiku's short reply. He stood up and went to his room to take a much-deserved nap, as he had been awake all night and had hardly gotten to sleep.

And Kat and Nat couldn't help but turn to each other a squeal under their breath at each other before collapsing on the couch.

~*~

_Yay for my Spring Break. Not only do I get two glorious weeks to write somthing for the _Entente Cordiale_, but I als get a lot of time to relax and... oh, right. Work on CdH. So... here's the chapter of Kiku/Ludwig. Next chapter is gonna be mah fave, thanks._

_**Please, please, please review?**_

_Adieu~**  
**_


	22. Your Cinderella

~*~

Chapter Twenty-Two: Your Cinderella

~*~

Arthur opened his eyes blearily. He had a sneaking suspicion he had just had another naked dream involving him and Johnny Depp. At least this time said movie star was dressed as Captain Jack and not Sweeny Todd, God that had scared Arthur half to death. But, pirates ruled and so the naked dream involving pirate Johnny wasn't that bad.

But he had another sneaking suspicion that he was not in his own bed. He would never paint his walls that tinted blue color, and he definitely didn't follow French soccer, much less _Paris Saint-Germain_. He was more of an _Arsenal_ fan. (That's British soccer, for you nonbelievers.)

He blinked again. _French soccer… blue… oh bugger._ There went the time-bomb: he was in Francis's room… on his bed…

"Morning, sleepy-head…" A lightly accented voice said in his ear.

The Englishman turned to see that Francis was behind him on the bed, looking quite comfortable with his hand propping his head up and the whole Greek-God-lying-on-his-side look. He was gorgeous, to say the least.

"G-Good m-morning, Francis…" Arthur said, panicking. Had they…? "Did you… did we…?"

Francis laughed and pointed. Arthur was still fully clothed in the clothes he had worn the night before. They were slightly rumpled, but otherwise… it seemed nothing had happened.

"You passed out after the party, and I didn't want to bring you to your house because… well Matthew fled early, and Alfred seemed a little sad. So, because they needed to work things out without you there, I took you home with me," Francis replied.

Arthur was confused, "And you couldn't just put me in the guest room?" he asked.

"No… I don't have one because Sesel sleeps in what was once a guest room…" Francis replied.

"Your…"

"… Maid, Arthur…"

"Right… so why not the couch? Or is that coveted by your dog?" Arthur asked, starting to get a little feisty.

"Actually, yes. I have a French poodle named Fifi… and she lives on the couch…" Francis replied, "Unless you would have rather slept with the dog—"

"Starting to think that was a better idea…" Arthur grumbled.

Francis pouted slightly, "Arty… I thought you had come around last night when you let me kiss you…"

_Shit. Shishitshit._ _Double shit. Triple shit. _Arthur was a bloody idiot. He had totally forgotten his kiss with Francis. He was never drinking again. Ever. It was about nine in the morning, and he was getting a giant headache from the drinking last night.

"It wasn't what you think. I was drunk…" he said, "I would have kissed _Vash_ of all people…"

"Poor man. I hope he makes his move on Roddy soon…" Francis mused, then he glanced down at the Englishmen under his covers, "That being said, you didn't resist it, and you were off in a corner, growling at everyone who approached you. You didn't growl at me, _mon coeur._"

Arthur knew he was trapped now. Come to think of it, the alcohol had just made him more loose and had made him _more_ willing to take his chances with Francis. Just Francis. Because Francis was the one Arthur wanted…

"All… All right. So I let you kiss me…" Arthur finally said after a few moments.

Francis blinked. He had thought the Brit would struggle, maybe deny it some more. Then the Frenchman smirked. So he was right. Arthur _was_ coming around… Arthur saw the twisted smile on his host's face and his green eyes widened. "What?"

"You really are warming up to me, _mon cher_…" Francis purred.

Arthur blushed at the Frenchman's tone, but didn't quite deny it, "I warmed up to you a long time ago, actually…" he confessed.

Francis blinked, his smile fading, "Oh?"

Arthur blushed deeper. He might as well tell all. Francis was right in front of him, and they were alone. Alfred wasn't there to laugh at him later, and Matthew wasn't there to make him worried and nervous.

"Yeah… I… was only shocked when you went to the guys' side of the room back in kindergarten… and I might have been really embarrassed about the revelation and… well… it carried on throughout our school days, I guess. But… I've always admired you. I… I wanted to be your Prince…" Arthur said.

Francis blinked, "Then why didn't you tell me sooner?" he asked.

Arthur sighed, the blush still apparent on his pale cheeks, "I'm… stubborn?"

"You're evading the question, is what you're doing, Arty. Out with a real answer…"

Arthur sighed, "Well… remember when I started working for your family?"

Francis nodded. When the neighboring boys were in high school, Arthur was short on some money, and his mother wouldn't allow her boys an allowance (because there were four boys), so Arthur was forced to do odd jobs for neighbors. But between his four brothers and him, he got the short straw and had to work next door for the Bonnefoys.

"Yes… you were a cute pool boy," Francis told him, smirking lightly at the memory.

Arthur slapped him on the arm, "Stop it! I know you're remembering me when I lost my swim trunks in the pool that day."

Francis's eyebrows shot up, "Now that you mention it…"

"Shit."

"Sorry… go on," Francis pressed.

Arthur tried to rub the blush off his cheeks, and Francis resisted teasing the other about it.

"I… I thought I was only a second-rate Cinderella. You… you were the Princess of the castle, and I was just one of the servants in your house… no matter what… I thought you would never actually want to be with me because what I did to you and what I was back then. Even when Alfred and I got that job with you and Ludwig at the café I thought… that I would never be anything to you…" Arthur explained.

As Francis listened to the other male, he shifted closer to the Brit, and so when Arthur ended his story, the Frenchman was pressed against Arthur. Arthur finally noticed the position they were in: Francis pressed up against his side. Feeling awkward, he turned his body so that his front was up against Francis's.

"You know what happened to Cinderella, right?" Francis murmured, his mouth almost inches from Arthur's.

"Yes…" Arthur replied, a little put off.

"So you know that she fits the glass slipper, and marries the Prince because of it?" Francis asked, his breath intoxicating Arthur almost to the brink of madness.

"Right… so what?" Arthur asked.

"So your _Princess_ just found the boy who matches the glass slipper…" Francis replied, and pressed his lips against Arthur's.

Arthur felt his heart thump in his chest violently, and could distinctly hear the ringing of the phone downstairs. Francis pulled away, scoffing as he listened. When he heard Sesel pick it up he nodded and smirked down at the Englishman once more, "She's a good girl, that Sesel… now where were we?"

"You were just kissing me…" Arthur replied, smirking back.

Francis smiled and pushed Arthur's shoulder so that he was once more on his back. Then he proceeded to get up and straddle the Englishman, who gasped lightly as warm fingers found their way under his shirt. Francis once again came forward and kissed Arthur on the mouth, then on his jaw bone, all the way down to the skin just before his shirt, but by the time he got there, the shirt was already unbuttoned and hanging off of the green-eyed male.

"Francis…" Arthur gasped.

Francis looked at him, "Am I going to fast?"

"No! If anything, we've been wanting it for a long time…" Arthur reasoned, "It's just… Have you… loved me as long as I have?"

Francis simply kissed him lightly before replying, "We'll just say, I wanted to be your Princess since my coronation before school started…"

Arthur put his weight on his elbows to push himself up to kiss the other male. When their lips touched, he pushed up a little higher so that he could throw his arms around the Frenchman and pull him down so that their chests touched. After a few minutes of passionate kissing, Francis pushed himself up and proceeded to unbutton his shirt. The Brit glanced up at the Frenchman's frame before his eyes lingered on the bulge in his pants. He smiled and put his hand on the other man's belt buckle. Francis looked down, his shirt halfway unbuttoned.

"May I?" Arthur asked.

Francis blinked, "Will you be mine?"

Arthur glanced up at him, an almost lovesick smile on his face, "Of course I will be, Francis. You're still my Princess…"

And with that, Francis allowed Arthur to undo the belt buckle…

~*~

_And then... well... you get the idea. Sorry it took so long. I had a separate fic for the Entente Cordiale, and then I just got insanely busy. I apologize a thousand times._

_In other news... you will get your Canada x America just as soon as possible. It's just... it's France x UK, guys, SERIOUSLY. This is my OTP. I treat them specially in this fic, I really do. But Canada is just as important (because he kind of started everything, am I right?) -sighs-_

_Now I'm going to go get some well-deserved sleep. **Please review. More reviews means I might actually remember that I have to update. Seriously. I am that scatter-brained.**_

_Adieu~**  
**_


	23. Winter's Song

~*~

Chapter Twenty-Three: Winter's Song

~*~

_Once Matthew felt Aflred's lips on his own, he was too confused and swept up in the moment, and so he pressed back firmly. After a few moments, the French-Canadian realized what was happening when Alfred tried to slip some tongue into the kiss. He pushed himself back from Alfred and said, "I… uhmm… I'll walk home… bye!"_

_He dashed to the coat closet and grabbed the red sweater he liked to wear and his gloves, scarf and hat. He pulled the sweatshirt over his head and found Kiku first. He said a quick goodbye to him, seeing him with Ludwig, and then made his way to the door. He saw Feli and dashed over to him, completely not seeing Lovino as he rushed out his goodbye and made his way out of Kiku's house. He had to get home, and it was only a few blocks from Kiku's house to the one he shared with Alfred and Arthur…_

~*~

The morning after. Nothing sexual like that, but it certainly felt like something had happened that was naughty. Especially for a certain dazed French-Canadian. Had even slept last night? Violet eyes blinked as the sun shone through his window. Fresh snow was on the ground, and he was cuddled up to his stuffed bear like the apocalypse had happened and they were the only two people alive. Oh, why did Alfred have to go and complicate things?

It's not his fault, Matthew thought, biting his lip. _He_ had been the one to kiss Alfred in the snow when they had met, and that had made an epic domino effect on _everybody's_ loves so far. Matthew blinked and put his glasses on. The world became clear for a moment, and then everything became fuzzy again. Matthew knew he was not drunk, because he had had no alcohol last night… unless Kiku or Feliciano had managed to spike his drink when he wasn't looking. And they wouldn't have. They were far too caught up with their own lives to have done anything to change Matthew's.

He blinked and realized he was crying, and that's why his glasses weren't improving his sight anymore. He took off his glasses as they clouded over with the hotness from his tears and threw them at his feet. He then curled up into a ball and put Kumajirou up to his face to sob into his fake, white fur. He cried like that for a good hour before… was that the smell of pancakes he smelled?

"… and no burning smell, either. Arty's getting good," he said, wiping his tears from his face with the back of his hand. He got up and pushed the blankets off his body, revealing the fact that really, the only thing he had done to get ready for bed was unbutton his shirt and take off his pants.

He grabbed a pair of sweatpants, pulled them on, and opened the door, taking Kumajirou with him like he was really only eight years old instead of a rather child-like adult. Once in the kitchen, though, Kumajirou slipped from his arms and he stepped back. No wonder the pancakes weren't burning: _Alfred was making them!_

"Morning," Alfred said, seeing him in the doorway, about to run, "Listen, I know you want nothing to do with me… but I have to talk to you…"

Matthew was frozen. He didn't know what to do. So he ignored the American. He picked up his white bear and went past Alfred to the coffee machine to pour himself a cup of coffee. Alfred watched him all the while, flipping the pancake in the pan with a lost puppy expression on his face. "Matthew…"

"I don't want to hear it…" Matthew replied, taking a sip of the coffee.

Alfred was struck dumb. He knew that Matthew had the balls to be cold toward anyone he wished, but to him? Arthur he could understand, but _him_?! "I thought…"

"You thought nothing."

"I thought it through. I shouldn't have surprised you like that last night," Alfred pushed on. Matthew was still here, and he needed to know that was going on in Alfred's head. In Alfred's _heart_. "It was wrong and I should have asked, or told you first how much… how much I'm in love with you."

It was Matthew's turn to be struck dumb. He turned to the American as slow as molasses, and nearly dropped the mug of coffee, had Alfred not seen how shocked the French-Canadian was and had moved closer to the other to catch the mug of hot liquid before it could spill.

"Is… this true?" Matthew asked, his voice cracking.

"Yes. I've been in love with you since you kissed me out in the snow…" Alfred replied, a sheepish smile forming on his lips.

Matthew almost wished that Alfred wasn't smart enough to finish making the pancake before telling him this. Then it would burn and Alfred would get away from him to put it out. Arthur would have, at least.

"Then why didn't you tell me?" Matthew asked, angry again. He wrenched the cup of coffee away from his American house-mate and turned away from him, cuddling Kumajirou. It was so cute how the French-Canadian was regressing in age suddenly. But the American couldn't smile at Matthew's pose.

"I… you were with Lovino. And I didn't want to screw up our friendship. You're feelings were more important to me than mine… and then you and Lovino broke up and I… couldn't handle being _just_ your house-mate anymore…" Alfred explained, tripping over words and feeling like an idiot.

Matthew slammed the now-empty mug on the counter and balled his hands into fists, squeezing at Kumajirou's paw. At least the bear was stuffed, or he would have cried out in pain. "_Idiot! Comment pus-tu?_" he yelled, turning toward Alfred, violet eyes blazing.

"What? _Anglais, s'il te plait!_" Alfred shot back.

"_Merde alors,_ Alfred…" Matthew said, trying to calm himself down. "I… if you would have said something before I started dating Lovino… I would have… I was stupid enough to go out with Lovino, so I would have been _stupid_ enough to date _you_…" he said, eyes still narrowed.

Aflred looked stung. He rubbed his upper arm with the opposite hand and looked off to the side nervously, "I only found out I truly loved you when Lovino asked you out. And then Ludwig turned Arthur down and it was _way_ to late to tear you two apart…"

Matthew sighed and pulled Kumajirou into his arms again, thinking. Finally, he said, "When I kissed you, it was frost-bite that made me do it. But then… then you started doing all you could to make me comfortable and to help me find myself. I still have gaps in my memories, but thanks to you, I remember my English, and I have friends and a home… And… I _love_ you…"

Alfred looked at him. It was his turn to be shocked. He backed into the stove, accidently putting his hand on the hot pan that was still sizzling there. "SHIT!" he yelled, retracting his hand quickly.

Matthew yelled something in French and rushed to him, taking his hand and checking it. It wasn't too bad, but it was reddening. Matthew pulled Alfred along to the sink and put cold water on the burn, turning off the stove as he patted the hand dry. "Try not to touch anything with that hand for a while, you idiot."

Alfred didn't care, "You… love me?"

Matthew glanced up at him through his pretty (girly) eyelashes and blushed lightly, "I… yes. You have Kiku and Feliciano to thank for that revelation…"

But Alfred was already leaning down, glancing at Matthew's lips before going in fully to touch them with his own. Matthew took a second as he saw Alfred's eyes flick to his lips and glanced at Alfred's before… lips touched, and this time, Matthew didn't feel like running…

Alfred's non-burnt finger's reached up and caressed the French-Canadian's back lightly as he pressed in to the kiss a little harder at ten, maybe twenty-second intervals, until Matthew's breath caught in his throat when he felt the American's tongue flick over his lips. Matthew went to open his mouth…

… When the doorbell rang, and Matthew and Alfred jumped apart, both blushing manically. Matthew started buttoning his buttons, and Alfred went back to his pancakes.

Matthew opened the door and saw a shivering mass in front of him. His little Feliciano was wearing a very light coat and jeans, but his eyes were red from crying, and as soon as the door opened, he squeaked lightly and fell into Matthew's arms, shaking and crying anew. Matthew looked around at the white, powdery snow, put his arms around his Italian friend, and pulled him indoors. He then closed the door and lead Feli to the couch, where they both plopped down, Feliciano sobbing lightly into Mattie's shirt…

~*~

Translations:

_Idiot! Comment pus-tu?_ – "Idiot! How could you?"

_Anglais, s'il te plait!_ – "English, please!"

_Merde alors_ – French equivalent to: "Holy shit."

~*~

_Mmmm... some drama with your romance, thanks very much. Feliciano would be what they call a c*ck-blocker these days... except for the fact that he's a crying, shivering mass of Italian angst... I apologize... these stories are never complete without the main character's best friend falling apart, is it?_

_At least you got you Alfred x Matthew, all right? And you know that there is DEFINITELY more to come from this story, eh?_

_**I still forget. So review so I remember to write this. I want to know what happens next, you know...**_

_Adieu~**  
**_


	24. A Gilmore Moment

Chapter Twenty-Four: A Gilmore Moment

"I don't… don't know what to think anymore, Mattie!" Feliciano cried. A good part of Mattew's shirt was wet from Feli's crying, and Matthew was about to cry as well. He couldn't exactly tell Feli that him and Alfred had just told each other about their feelings for each other, not when…

Not when Feliciano was head-over-heels in love with his adopted brother, and he was pretty sure Lovino felt the same way. The only problem was that they had been brothers, and Feliciano wasn't sure of Lovi could push past that and be with the younger male. Matthew didn't know what to tell Feli at that point.

Alfred had come in from the kitchen as soon as he heard Feliciano's first disjointed cry and had sat across from them for a brief moment, a plate of pancakes in his hand. When it looked like Matthew wasn't going to get a free moment, he left and put some aluminum foil over the plate and put it in the refrigerator. He then went upstairs to his room, closing the door on male Lorelei and his… son.

"I don't know what you should do, Feli…" Mattie finally said when the brunette looked up at him with pleading brown eyes. "I've… I don't think it's ever happened to me…"

Feliciano nodded and put his head back in his best friend's chest. Matthew stroked his hair for a minute, humming to himself to make them both feel a little better. "But you're not brothers, are you? It's just a coincidence that you look somewhat alike. And… Lovino's a bit stubborn, but when he figures it all out… he'll tell you. You just have to be patient…"

Feliciano looked up at Matthew and nodded, sniffing lightly as he tried to wipe the tears off his face. He then put his head back on Matthew's chest and sighed, closing his eyes for a minute. The phone then rang, and Matthew reached over to the low table and picked it up. "Hey, Kiku…" he said.

"Hey, Mattie… how are you doing?"

"I'm fine… Alfie… confessed his love for me…" Matthew told him, "And I confessed them back… but, uhhh… Feli's here now, and he's having a crisis."

"Congratulations on the Alfred thing, and… wait, what's wrong with Feliciano?" Kiku asked, concern gracing his voice.

Matthew looked down at Feliciano, who was looking at him, ears perked after hearing about Alfred. "Well… why don't we go out to dinner and talk about this…"

"Oh? Is it _that_ secret? Who do think is tapping your phone, Mattie?" Kiku asked jokingly.

"Ever heard of the Good Slash Forever Fangirl Alliance?" Mattie asked.

"Oh. I think Katyusha and Natalia are part of that now…" Kiku replied.

Matthew sighed, "All the girls in the city are, Kiku…"

"Really?" Kiku asked, "I must ask if my Taiwanese cousin is as well…"

Matthew sighed, "I wouldn't have any doubt if she was… anyway. Dinner. Because the Good Slash Forever Fangirl Alliance might be tapping my phone. How about the Café Monde at seven?"

"Okay… don't forget Feliciano."

"Was that an attempt at a joke?"

"Yes."

"Haha."

"Thank you."

And after saying a few goodbyes, Matthew hung up. After setting the phone down, he looked at Feliciano, who was breathing steadily now, even if he hiccupped every once in a while, and he seemed to be asleep. Matthew smiled at his broken friend and let him sleep, watching the clock until it was time for them to go to dinner.

"Are you sure some of the Fangirl Alliance hasn't followed you?" Matthew asked when the Gilmore Boys were seated in the family section of Café Monde.

Kiku looked around him casually, "I'm sure. Well… no I'm not. Why? Is it so secret?"

"It was a joke… poor Feli hasn't laughed in the past two days…" Matthew said, looking over at the dejected-looking Italian. He tried to smile, but just couldn't.

"Lovino is an asshole," he finally said.

"No he's not. And I'm his ex, that saying a lot when I say it," Matthew replied. "Now, who kissed who again?"

"I kissed him… and then he ran out…" Feli replied.

Kiku nodded and thought it over, "Well… he could just be shy. You know him more than me… what was he like when you were living together?"

Feliciano thought back carefully. Lovino had always kept to himself. He never really spoke, but… was that really shyness? He _was_ always with the family, despite his silence and glaring eyes. Marcus had asked him why he hadn't asked anyone to his Senior Prom and he had replied, "I wouldn't've known how to do it…"

"And… it might be that Lovino is as confused as you. I mean… you were brothers. Not by blood, but still the same as, you know, if Ludwig kissed Gilbert," Matthew cut in. "Speaking of which, are you two a couple now?" he asked Kiku.

The Japanese man blushed a coughed politely into his napkin before nodding once and looking first at Matthew, and then at Feliciano. Feliciano's face brightened, "I'm so happy for you!" he cried. Then he turned to Matthew, "And you and Alfred? Congratulations!"

Matthew blushed as well, but he trained violet-blue eyes on his friend. "Yeah, yeah, yeah, but what about _you_. What are _you_ gonna do?"

Feliciano's eyes glistened as he looked at the dark red shag carpet. His smile turned into a far-away, I-miss-my-lover smile and he replied, "I… I _love_ Lovi. But I know that he is shy and scared of our past. I'll… I'll let him come to terms with his own feelings, but… it doesn't mean I'll give up on him completely. He's still my brother…"

Kiku sniffed lightly, "You're such a trouper, Feli…"

Feliciano smiled at him, "Thanks. Now… I heard the pasta here is delicious…"

Heidi shut her phone, a dazed smile on her face. She wasn't exactly sure what drew her to call Sesel every night, but when she did, they would talk for hours. Sesel made Heidi blush like no other person could, and her accent was… sexy.

Heidi shuddered at the thought and snapped back to reality. Francis and Arthur had made love, so that couple was set. Kiku and Ludwig had called and discussed. Kiku had heard from Matthew himself that Alfred and Matthew were a thing now. Now it was up to Heidi to help Lovino on the road to seeing Feliciano as not just a brother, but a lover as well.

And as a bonus, Heidi's muse thought, Kat and Nat were a couple, and a damn cute one at that. If only Heidi had the guts to tell Sesel of her feelings… But not now.

"Lovino? I brought you some fondue…" Heidi called, knocking on her tenant's door.

After a few moments of standing in the hall, Lovino opened the door. He looked like he hadn't changed from a week ago, when she had comforted him after the New Year's/House-Warmiing party. He had work in the morning too… with Feliciano. And he hadn't shaved and he stunk of… something nasty.

Heidi sighed, "Eat up, and then I want to groom you…"

"Weird house call, but okay…" Lovino replied, still his normal sarcastic self, despite the smell.

Heidi ate with him, and once that was done, she put her dishes by the door and pushed Lovino into the bathroom. She was careful to tell him she was doing this as a friend, as she had her eye on someone else. A girl.

"You're a lesbian? Like Kat and Nat?" Lovino asked as Heidi trimmed Lovi's hair.

"No. And Kat and Nat aren't full lesbians. Natalia's bisexual because of her thing with Ivan, and Katyusha has gone out with Matthew," Heidi replied. "I can't be lesbian, because I've been out with so many guys from college…"

"Oh, well sorry. I just ask because most of the people I know seem to be gay…"

"Matthew isn't. He's bisexual as well." _Katyusha told me._

"Yeah… I'm starting to think the whole world is. Not so close! You'll take my ear off!" Lovino shouted suddenly.

"Hold still and maybe I won't 'accidentally' take it off while I'm at it," Heidi replied, smacking him playfully on the arm. "I'm done, anyway. Where's your razor?"

"In the mirror… shelf… thing…" Lovino replied.

Heidi giggled and found it and the shaving cream. While she worked, carefully, so she didn't accidentally nick him, she started a new conversation. "Are you smelly and awful-looking because of Feliciano?"

Lovino tried not to move as he blinked his dark eyes down at her. She looked up at him with a sweet smile, their faces almost touching as she shaved his face. But he understood love, because… "I do love him, yes. But we were brothers. It's just… weird to think about…" he replied when Heidi had paused just so he could answer.

She shaved the rest of his face as they sat in the bathroom in silence. She then took his hand tenderly and led him out to the bedroom. She picked out some pajamas and threw them at him. He caught them and sighed, going back into the bathroom to shower, brush his teeth, and change. She went into the bathroom when he was showering and took the clothes he had been wearing and threw them away.

At the end of the grooming session, Heidi turned to go. Lovino took her hand and kissed her cheek. "You know, if I wasn't hung up on Feliciano, you would have been the girl for me…"

"That's sweet of you, Lovi, it really is. But… if you love someone… you should let them know."

Lovino nodded, "I'll get over myself."

"And I'll help you. That's what friends are for, right?"

"Friends?"

"You've lived in my apartment building for months, Lovi. I comforted you last week, and I made you dinner this week. I think we're friends now."

There was a silence. A comfortable silence. And then Lovino spoke: "Okay. If you want, then… I can help you with Sesel…"

"If you can teach me courage, then show me by telling Feliciano…"

"You got me. But we'll help each other out in this, right?"

"I promise."

They stood at Lovi's door for a moment. Until he saw Vash open his door and yell at Heidi to come inside. Heidi sighed stuck her pinky out, "Pinky promise, then?"

Lovi laughed and completed the promise. Heidi smiled at him, and ran down the hall into her own apartment.

_Well... this time it's not pride and stubbornness. It's fear. And the only couples that won't get a move on and get together already are Lovino and Feliciano. Oh, and Sesel (Seychelles) and Heidi (Liechtenstein). And Vash and Roderich. But those, my friends, are the side characters. Lovino and Feliciano are (kind of) main characters._

_I think Lovino having a girl friend to talk to would be an interesting thing. As for the Gilmore Boys? Well, they needed another scene together. And The Good Slash Forever Fangirl Alliance. You need a little comedy after all this... drama._

_**Help this poor girl remember to write. Review, s'il vous plait~**_

_Adieu~**  
**_


	25. Butterfly

Chapter Twenty-Five: Butterfly

It was time to return to work after a rather nice two weeks away. So much had happened. Matthew and Alfred were happily together, as well as Kiku and Ludwig. And especially himself and Arthur, Francis thought, smiling to himself as he exited his room to descend the stairs. He saw Sesel dart down the hall in front of him and whistled at her, "_How are your girls down at the Good Slash Forever Fangirl Alliance, Sesel my dear?" _he asked her in French.

She grinned sheepishly, wondering how Francis knew about these things. "_All couples are accounted for, sir. Except for young masters Romano and Vargas…_"

Francis thought about it for a minute. He knew about the little Alliance and its ways. Sesel had even told him about the wish for Arthur and him getting together. He had thought nothing of it for a while now, but it was pertinent, now that Francis was happy, that the other couples were happy as well. All seemed well the night of the New Year's Party, which was the last venue Francis had seen everyone in.

"_Pity._" Mister Bonnefoy replied. _"Any more work on getting Master Zwingli with Master Edelstein_?" he asked.

"_I believe… our North American girls are working on that_," Sesel replied.

The Frenchman nodded and made his way down to the door. Sesel followed him like a puppy out in the snow until he turned to her again, "_It really is a shame about Feliciano and Lovino. Such good boys, too… You do well to work on their relationship, all right?"_

"_Yes, Master Bonnefoy…_" Sesel replied, quite surprised they were having the conversation at all.

"_Also… don't wait with your budding relationship with little Miss Zwingli,_" Francis told his maidservant, tucking a stray piece of her thick black hair behind her ear. She blushed lightly at the mention of Heidi, but curtsied and then darted off to her room.

Francis left his house to walk down the road to work, whistling a happy tune. He knew that he should feel pensive about his friends, but right now, it was a bright day, and the sun looked so pretty bouncing light off the white snow. He walked into the café, and smiled cheerily as the bell tinkled. It was open, so Ludwig must be around, resolute as usual about being to work earlier than his co-workers.

"Luddy?" Francis called, looking for his cousin.

Ludwig popped his head through the cook's window and gave Francis a look of mourning. "Who died, _mon cousin_?" Francis asked, pouting his lips playfully.

"My pride," Ludwig replied, coming out of the cook's door to better chat with his French cousin, "and it was double funeral, because my sex life went with it…"

"Did you and Kiku break-up _already_?" Francis asked, about to pull the 'break-ups are tough, but there are other fish in the sea' speech out of his ass again.

"No."

"Then why are both your pride and sex life dead?" Francis asked.

"Because Kiku is a virgin, and he wishes to stay that way until he's sure I'm 'the One,'" the tall blond replied.

"Ah, _mon ami_," Francis began, about to cluck his tongue when he thought better of it, as Ludwig was stronger and taller and many other things than the Frenchman was. "Your pride and sex life are merely on life-support then… and, though that might be the case now, Dr. Bonnefoy says that it will get better of you stay positive about it…" Francis replied, pulling himself up on the counter. He swung his legs over the counter and took the more fun way behind it.

Ludwig glanced at him with manly blue eyes and stared at his cousin for a good 30 seconds before shaking his head. Francis laughed, "I don't mean to laugh at you, _mon ami_, but I can tell your pessimistic mindset doesn't believe me."

"How can I, when I have had this 'pessimistic mindset?'" Ludwig asked.

Francis smiled softly at his relative and sighed, closing his eyes as he thought about it. "A little African birdie who happens to work in my house told me that you and Kiku are the two most adorable things in the world when you are together. And you make each other happy, from what I gathered from Matthew and Feliciano's fangirling."

Ludwig digested this for a good minute, and in the meantime, Francis busied himself with finding his apron and tying it around his rather girlish waist.

"Just because a bunch of girls want me together with Kiku doesn't mean I should let their thoughts win over my better judgment," Ludwig finally said.

Francis stared at him, "Just because Kiku is not ready to be intimate with you, you're thinking of breaking up with him?"

Ludwig blanched, "No! No no no no! I just… it's…"

"Sex isn't everything," Francis replied.

"Seems to have helped you," Ludwig replied, looking his cousin up and down with a hint of a smile on his face.

Francis blushed lightly and shook his head, "Only the once. Otherwise we've had fun in other ways…" he replied.

"Like what?" Ludwig asked.

"Well… we go on dates. We've only been on a few, but they've all been really fun," Francis replied, almost gushing.

Ludwig thought for a minute, "Dates?"

Francis stared at the German man for a minute, "Have you never been on a date before?"

"I have, but they all… ended kind of kinky…" Ludwig confessed, "So I didn't want to go on any with Kiku lest… the relationship end because I do something stupid.

"_Mon Dieu_…" Francis replied, "If I lived your life, I don't think I could live with myself…"

"Francis, you were the biggest perv at our reunions… what happened?"

"I grew up," was the Frenchman's answer, "I was just covering up for how insecure I was about Arthur…"

Ludwig was silent, "I'm sorry for taking him away from you for a while there…"

"He's with me now," Francis replied, "That's all that matters."

There was a tight silence for a brief moment before Ludwig began to hum something under his breath. Francis listened for a brief moment before he hit his cousin on the upper arm, "Are you humming the opening to _Golden Girls_?"

"Yes! Remember when we were the Golden Girls in high school? You were Blanche, the slut, of course; Bella was Rose, the dumbass; and I was Dorothy, the smartass. And then Seychelles, of course… she was Sophia…" Ludwig said, getting a faraway look in his sky blue eyes.

"_Gilmore Girls_ is definitely better… and I only _pretended_ to be a slut back then… for reasons I have just confided in you," Francis replied, crossing his arms over his chest.

"Yeah, yeah, yeah… is this because Arthur watches _Gilmore Girls_?" Ludwig asked.

"No. Mattie, Feli, and your Kiku are part of Monde's Gilmore Boys, remember?"

"Oh, right. He's Lane, right?"

"So you _do_ watch the show!" Francis said, pointing at Ludwig with an 'aha!' look.

Ludwig put up his hands in defeat, but smiled at his cousin playfully, "So what would that make me?" he asked, "If Alfred is Luke… or Christopher?"

"Alfred is Luke. Since I ship Luke/Lorelei… and so do they," Francis piped.

"All right… and… Lovino? Is Feliciano's… Jesse? Dean? Tristin?" Ludwig asked, raising his eyebrow at Francis.

"I'm still a big fan of Rory and Jesse, actually…" Francis replied, "And Feli will agree with me on that one…" he added, glancing at Ludwig as he sat on a stool in front of where he was supposed to be working.

"What does that make you and Arthur?" Ludwig suddenly asked.

Francis chuckled, "I'm Richard Gilmore, Lorelei-Matthew's father, and Arthur is Emily Gilmore, Lorelei-Matthew's overbearing mother and my adoring wife," he replied. There was another silence. "Don't you wonder which boy you are to your Lane, Luddy?"

Ludwig closed his eyes for a brief moment before he sighed and opened them again, "I guess I have no choice. Curiosity may kill this cat, though…"

"No, Luddy… Curiosity will only make you bloat a little and give you those little maiden cramps that only make you _feel_ like it's killing you," Francis replied. "You, my dear cousin, can either be the man who impregnates Lane, and so her mother pulls you together to take care of the baby, but, do you really _love_ the mother of your child? Or, you can be the perfect boyfriend from Season 2. You might not have stayed together, but at least you two were really in love. And if some outside allies of yours had their way… you would stay together and not mess up the one happiness in your life…"

Ludwig seemed to chew and swallow this speech, tasting ever aspect of it until he looked his cousin in the eye and said, "All right. I'll be the perfect boyfriend and… and wait until he is ready…"

"And you'll stop despairing over you ego and sex life? You can stroke your ego in other ways. As for your sex life… well, you can stroke yourself, if it helps…" Francis replied, winking slightly at the taller man.

Ludwig glared at Francis and flicked him behind the ear, making the Frenchman laugh. He calmed down some, smiling at his cousin before the bell tinkled again, and Feliciano came in the door, followed by his 'mother,' 'mom's boyfriend,' and 'Her Majesty a.k.a grandma.'

_Oh my god... It's 2:30 in the morning and I have a need to finish this thing. There must be something wrong with me._

_Oh look... Francis and 'Luddy' having a heart-to-heart. And I recently got into the sitcom _Golden Girls_ so I'm sorry if that reference is off... I added more _Gilmore Girls_ references, if that helps. Can;t you just see Francis as Blanche though? If you don't know what I'm talking about, go get your friends to throw buckets at your head. And if you don't know _that_ reference, go live in a freezer._

_**Please review. I get so lonely writing my candlelight when there is no letters to warm my heart.**  
_


	26. Double Date

Chapter Twenty-Six: Double-Date

Valentine's Day.

Two days after his talk with Francis, Ludwig had asked Kiku out, trusting himself not to make it kinky. "How about we have our first date on Saturday—Valentine's day. And… ask your house-mates to come with us, okay?" Sure-fire way to know you won't get kinky? Go for a double-date!

The girls were absolutely ecstatic about the whole thing. They could keep an eye out on their couple—Elizabeta's orders—and still enjoy Valentine's Day together without things getting awkward between them. (Creeping around often got Natalia a bit cranky, if you can believe it.) Besides, Natalia, at least, wanted to get to know her housemate's boyfriend. She was curious as to the stories told by Kiku about him. And Kiku? Well, it was his first date and all! (They _had_ been calling and emailing since they were established back at the beginning of January. And Kiku still came in to the café regularly, but then he was picking up the other Gilmore boys for lunch or on a coffee run for Poppy Crafts and such and such and such.)

Natalia was all ready dressed on the day of the double date. Katyusha was as well, but Kiku was having issues, so Kat had gone to help him prepare. Natalia was sitting at the counter in the kitchen, texting Heidi about her end of the Valentine's Day dates. Feliciano and Lovino were both at home moping. Heidi had just informed Natalia that she was about to call Feliciano over to Lovino's for some Valentine's Day 'bro-time.' Natalia was just wishing her little blonde friend good luck. Her phone buzzed a few seconds after the text to Heidi was sent.

**Hey Nat. It's me, Ivan.**

Oh _shit_. Natalia wasn't sure if she should answer or delete it. She decided to do nothing about it, and went back to her home-screen (a picture taken by Mattie of her, Katyusha, and Kiku after a particularly silly day at work). She closed her phone just as Kiku and Katyusha emerged from Kiku's room, Katyusha wearing a lovely silver dress, and Kiku wearing a man's white blouse and black pants.

"Planning on pillaging Spain?" Natalia asked, smoothing her little black dress as she stood and picked up Kiku's keys from the key bowl.

"What?"

"She thinks you look like a pirate, but I think you look fine," Katyusha chided, looking at her girlfriend with a slight glare.

"Should I call Arthur and ask if he has any eye-patches left from Halloween?" Natalia asked as they made their way into the garage to get into the car. Kiku tried to snatch the keys from the Belorussian, but she growled him into the passenger seat, uprooting Katyusha into the back.

"You look fine, Kiku, and _not_ like a pirate," Katyusha replied from the back, patting the Japanese man's sleeve with a mother's touch.

"Just don't come running to me when the Spaniards arrest you for burning down their colonies in the New World," Natalia replied, turning on the car. Kat swatted her playfully with her sparkling clutch-purse as they backed out of the garage into the night.

Dinner was just being served when Natalia's phone buzzed in her purse. She started to sweat as she thought about it. Maybe it was Heidi with the verdict, or maybe it was Ivan again… she didn't know. And she didn't want to ruin dinner for her friends. Kiku and Ludwig were giving each other cute little glances across the table, and Katyusha's hand rested neatly upon Natalia's thigh until the dishes of food were brought out.

Katyusha saw her girlfriend's face twist up in pain and reached into Natalia's purse to grab her phone for her, but Natalia was quick as lightening and snatched it before Katyusha could lay her pretty fingers on it. She looked. It was from Ivan, again.

**I know we're broken up, Nat. **

**I just wanted to say hello to my sister, but she isn't picking up her phone.**

Katyusha looked at Natalia expectantly for a good minute. "Ivan wants to talk to you, Kat."

"I know." Katyusha replied.

There was a tight silence in the ranks before Ludwig decided to break it. "Have you told him about your relationship, at least?" he asked.

Katyusha blushed and put her napkin to her lower face in an attempt to hide it. Natalia sighed and shook her head, "We can't. Katyusha here doesn't want me to get hurt."

"But… Natalia has been the one beating Ivan down, right?" Kiku asked, knowing the most about Ivan and his fits.

"Yes, but if he knew that it was Natalia… well… you all know how Matthew came to us," Katyusha replied.

"Yes, but Matthew is a scrawny thing, with no muscle to fight back with," Ludwig pointed out. He then smiled at the white-blonde sitting next to Kat and said, "Natalia here can probably take down a bear…"

"And Ivan is just a big Russian bear," Kiku said to Kat, shrugging his shoulders at her.

"Yes, and he goes to Russia every summer to fight them, and for the last three years, he's been winning," Katyusha pointed out.

"But I know how to fight! Yao has been teaching me a few things, and I have all the basics from Toris!" Natalia hissed.

Katyusha bit her lip prettily and sighed, closing her eyes against the glow of the candle in the centre of the table. Finally, she opened her eyes and nodded, "Then we can tell him. He'll probably just throw a fit and I'll—oh shit."

"What?" Ludwig asked.

"Natalia and Katyusha locked Ivan in the shed on Christmas and left him…" Kiku told Ludwig.

"He doesn't remember any of his fits. He just remembered the feelings he felt during them…" Natalia explained quickly, taking a bite of the food on her plate. "And that's definitely not it. What is it, Kat?"

"Well… anything involving me makes him get into his fits, right?" Kat asked.

"Yes," Natalia answered, quick as a chess-clock thumper.

"And you know he gets some weird super-strength in his fits, right? It's how he can fight those bears in Tynda," Katyusha mused.

"Oh… I'm going to have to train much harder," Natalia said, "I'll call Yao when I get home and tell him I want the full training…"

Katyusha sighed, "Then we're definitely not telling him until you feel absolutely ready to fend him off…"

There was another tight silence, and then Ludwig coughed lightly before opening up the next topic of discussion: "So… are you all excited for the World Cup? I'm really hoping Germany wins it all this year…"

_WHOO! Finishing up two chapters of two different fics is amazing. Anyway... Natalia gets ready to beat down Ivan, Katyusha gives in and stops being her hero, and Kiku and Ludwig finally have a date!_

_**Please review. They fuel my soul a little bit ^^**  
_


	27. Come Home

Chapter Twenty-Seven: Come Home

It was abnormally bright for a late February day. But then again, Ivan assumed, the sun was out, and was bouncing on the snow (how Ivan loved the snow). The pale blond made his way down the freeway, dead-set on seeing his little sister. She was at Natalia's parents' house. Yes… that had to be it. Though he should have called first. But they knew him pretty well, so a little surprise visit wouldn't hurt.

He finally got there and turned off the ignition. It looked like Mr. and Mrs. Arlovskaya's cars were in the garage, as the doors of the garage were open and Mr. Arlovskaya was just coming out, rubbing his grease-stained hands with a wash cloth. He gulped when Ivan came out of his car and gave him a good-natured smile. Then Mr. Arlovskaya smiled and took Ivan's hand firmly.

"How are you, Ivan?" the older man asked of the pale-blond.

"I'm fine."

Mr. Arlovskaya called for his wife, who smiled upon seeing her daughter's ex-boyfriend despite the fact that they weren't an item anymore.

"Sorry about the break-up, Ivan," Mrs. Arlovskaya finally said after a few seconds.

Ivan let go of her husband's hand and shrugged, "No worries. I had hoped Natalia and I would stay friends… which is partly why I'm here. Are Katyusha and Natalia here?"

Mrs. And Mr. Arlovskaya looked at each other warily, "They call almost every week… but I'm afraid… I'm afraid they aren't staying here…" Mrs. Arlovskaya told him.

There was a tight silence as Ivan thought about it. Not staying with her parents? And Katyusha and his parents were back in Russia, taking care of their granddad. So where in all of Monde could they have gotten to?

"Would you like to come inside for some coffee or tea?" Mrs. Arlovskaya asked.

Ivan snapped back to reality, shook his head good-naturedly, and shook both of their hands before getting back into his car, "No thank you, Mrs. Arlovskaya. I'll just be on my way. I'll find them one of these days…" he said, the smile he gave Natalia's parents giving them shivers down their spines.

He tried calling Katyusha once more, but his call went straight to voice mail. He listened absentmindedly to her recorded voice: _Hiya! Kat here. Sorry I can't take your call right now, but I'm either with my friends or tending customers in the craft store. Leave a message after the tone and I'll try to call you back just as soon as possible! Thanks for your call!_

Ivan sighed, put the phone in the drink holder, and pulled out of the Arlovskayas' driveway, back onto the street; he thought about where his sister and her friend could be. He drove until he came to a tiny, out-of-the-way restaurant to order some lunch for himself. Maybe if he found himself a hotel he could get rested and try again tomorrow. But the day was still fresh, and Ivan really wanted to see his sister, as she was still not picking up her phone and ignoring his texts to her. He sighed into his arms as he waited for his food to cook and present itself.

"You okay, sir?" a dark-haired man said from the next booth.

Ivan looked. It was a short, Chinese man, with his long hair back into a ponytail. The smaller man came and sat across from Ivan and gave the bigger man a cute smile.

"I'm Yao Wang… you look familiar, aru…"

Ivan didn't say anything, somewhat confused as to where he had seen this man before. "Yao… oh! We went to middle and high school together!"

"Ivan, right, aru?" Yao asked, "Ivan Braginski…" then Yao remembered. He blanched lightly and squeaked, knowing that this was the man Natalia and Katyusha were running from, and why Natalia had been coming over to Yao's house to learn martial arts. Oh no…

"Yes! Yes! Tell me… are you still with that adorable little Japanese boy?" Ivan asked.

_Well… he doesn't seem as bad as the girls say, aru…_ China thought. "No… he's going out with Ludwig now, aru…"

"And you?" Ivan asked, leaning forward. His nose almost touched Yao's, but the skittish Chinese jumped back into the cushion behind him quickly.

"Aiyah! I'm… I'm single right now, aru!" Yao squeaked. He was just about to get up when the waitress (Bella) brought out his meal.

She glanced at the new arrangement and grinned neatly before placing Yao's meal in front of him. She would have to call Kat and Nat about the situation promptly… after she waited on a few more people and got Ivan's lunch to him.

Once both meals were out and Ivan and Yao were quietly eating, Ivan finally asked, "So… what are you doing these days, Yao?"

"Uhm… I run a craft store, aru…" Yao replied, after swallowing.

Ivan nodded and took another bite of his food. _Wait a minute…_ he thought, "A craft store?"

"Uh huh…" Yao replied, calmly as he could.

"Do… uh… a Ms. Lozinski and a Ms. Arlovskaya work with you?" Ivan asked, as calm as Yao was acting, if not more. It sent shivers down Yao's spine.

Yao knew he was stuck. Lie to Ivan and the bigger man would probably have his head. Tell the truth… and Nat and Kat were done for. Natalia hadn't 'passed' his training yet, and Katyusha… well she was too sweet to die an early death. (Not that Ivan would kill her…)

But Yao didn't want to have a scene in this restaurant, either. There were many innocent people here… and Yao had been hinted at by the girls on Ivan's changing… personality. He got mean and physical, and then later, he wouldn't remember what he did, but he did remember the feelings of intense rage and passion he felt. It was an odd form of Dissociative Identity Disorder, but, so far, Natalia hadn't got professional help in all her years as his girlfriend.

"Yes, aru," Yao replied, regretting it as soon as the word(s) were out of his mouth.

Ivan took out his wallet, slammed a twenty on the table, and stood up. Then he kissed Yao squarely on the mouth (and lingered, I'll add), before he ran out of the restaurant and out to his car. Yao felt really bad about what had happened, (though he was blushing from the kiss) so he took out his phone and dialed Kiku's number.

"You might want to get home, aru. Ivan's here and… I told him where the girls work, aru. Yes. I'm sorry, aru. Really, truly sorry…"

Kiku quickly got Kat and Nat home, but it wasn't enough. Somehow, Ivan had gotten where the Japanese man lived from the records in Yao's office, and was now knocking on the door. Kiku squeaked, but knew he was stuck. Nat and Kat looked up from the couch and whimpered, Nat standing up boldly.

"No," Kiku replied, and went to the door, looking through the peephole. From such a small window, Ivan really _did_ look like a giant, Russian bear. Kiku wasn't sure his martial arts would help him now…

"Open up, girls, I know you're in there. And if your precious _stray_ is there, have him front line you, I want to make _sure_ he never comes back!" Ivan said; his 'bad' personality had all ready engulfed him.

Kiku looked back at the girls and gulped, opening the door to the giant.

"Who's this?" Ivan asked, grabbing Kiku's shoulder rather roughly. Kiku made a pained noise before he replied, "Kiku… sir."

"Your new little stray, Katyusha?" Ivan asked, rattling Kiku a little bit. Natalia could tell the Japanese man's shoulder was dislocated and hurting like the dickens. She was good at figuring out the body's problems in herself and others, which was how she could subdue Ivan for the brief moments she could. She jumped forward, but Ivan swatted her into the wall. She winced, but nothing was broken. She decided, though, to recuperate for a moment.

"No…" Katyusha replied, "If… I don't like men…" she said, glancing at Natalia.

Natalia stood up, popping her shoulder back into place like it was nothing. Kiku was in too much pain to even do _that_… Nat had to figure out a way to get behind Ivan and save Kiku from any more injuries.

Too late. Ivan took out a pocket-knife from his back pocket, "No men, huh?" he asked, slicing Kiku's cheek. He winced, but refused to cry out.

Natalia's phone was in her bag. Which was behind Ivan. _Dammit!_ Natalia thought. She stepped close to Ivan, who was now waaaay too into slicing (rather pretty) patterns into Kiku's chest. He had to tear away the t-shirt in order to do so, but he cut a little too deep in places, and both Kat and Kiku whimpered a little when that happened. This was just too much. Finally, Natalia ran at Ivan, and head-butted him into the wall. He flew into a vase, but that was what he got for hurting her friend.

Then she used what techniques she knew from Yao's teaching and blocked a few places on his body, rendering him paralyzed in his outer extremities. He nashed his teeth together, but Natalia was already picking the big guy up. "This is the last straw, Ivan Braginski. We're getting you _help_!"

Matthew was just about to get into Alfred's car when he got a call from Katyusha. He opened his phone and checked in the backseat to see if Arthur and Francis were _behaving_. "Hello?"

"Mattie! Kiku's in the hospital!" his Ukrainian caller nearly shrieked.

"What?" Matthew asked, a worried look on his face.

Alfred had paused with his keys halfway up to the ignition.

"Ivan found us and… he tortured Kiku before Natalia went all Amazon woman on him and… well… _I'm_ fine, but Kiku is barely breathing. Natalia went to get Ivan some psychiatric help, but she was pretty badly wounded too…" Katyusha said.

But Matthew's eyes had widened and he wasn't really paying any attention. Finally he just said, "O-Okay… I'll… see you at the hospital," he said, closing the phone. He sat there, though, eyes still wide.

Arthur looked at him, "What happened?"

"Ivan came. He hurt Kiku. Kat took… Kiku to the hospital…"

"_Mon Dieu!_" Francis said, putting his hands over his mouth.

Alfred watched the French-Canadian for a minute, especially as Matthew's wide eyes began to cry. "What's wrong?" he asked.

"His best friend is in the hospital, you twit! Now start the car so we can go check on him!" Arthur cried from the back.

"_Non_…" Francis said, pointing at the weeping, yet still shocked, French-Canadian.

"I… I _remember_!" Matthew finally cried, putting his head in his hands and weeping.

_Uhm... I'm sorry? -mad dash across the Canadian border-_


	28. Down Memory Lane

Chapter Twenty-Eight: Down Memory Lane

Matthew Williams was born and raised in Montreal, Quebec, in Canada. His father left him when he was quite small and divorced his mother. His mother was heart-broken, but she managed to raise Matthew and, seven months later, Fleur Williams, who was about three years younger than Mattie. Disaster struck, though, when Fleur died quite suddenly. Mrs. Williams moved Matthew and herself to Quebec City to get rid of painful memories, and took Matthew out of school. He was homeschooled until he was 18, when he promptly moved to Monde, where he was accepted in the college there. That was where he met the most beautiful girl in the entire city.

Her name was Katyusha Lozinski, and she lived in Matthew's dorm building. By then, Matthew was pretty invisible to everyone except his roommates: Roderich Edelstein his freshman year, and Vash Zwingli his sophomore year. Both times, as fate had it, Mattie was Kat's neighbor. She never really saw him, however, until he signed up to be her housemate his junior year at the University of Monde. Then he, Katyusha, Natalia, and one Toris Lorinaitis lived together for two years, until Matthew graduated with a degree in International Relations.

After college, Katyusha helped him get an apartment in her building, where she lived with Natalia and her brother, who was the owner of the building at that time. They kept their new-found relationship a secret from Ivan because Matthew had heard very gruesome stories about Ivan and his DID. Natalia got him a simple nine to five job at the radio station uptown. It was soon shut down, and Matthew was stuck without a job for a few months.

In that time, Ivan found out about him and Katyusha. He seemed to seethe about it, being a little too overprotective of his adopted sister. In the time, he began dating Natalia, much to her protests. But Natalia soon thought her dating Ivan would be for the best, to protect her friend, Kat. Katyusha was the one to give Matthew the bracelet that he wore with pride that bore his name in gold letters on a chain. To hell if it was a little girly. Toris, Natalia, and Katyusha had ones like it, all baring their names in gold script.

Ivan seethed and scratched at the wound that Matthew was for too long, it seemed, because he turned up at Matthew apartment in a peak of rage:

"Matthew Williams, is it?"

"_Merde alors…_ euh… hello, Ivan…"

"Don't be so cute with me, you _little lost stray_…" Ivan hissed, advancing on the poor French-Canadian.

Matthew stepped back into his apartment, but he was just backing into a corner, as the big Russian kept advancing on him, until Matthew was stuck against the wall. Then the punches back, hitting him everywhere. Matthew was still as pale and frail as ever, and he couldn't even get a word or a blow edgewise. Matthew wasn't sure where the pain would end, especially when Ivan took out a pocket-knife and gleefully scratched up his face, arms, and legs. Matthew finally couldn't take it anymore, and fell into a deep sleep, probably never to awaken, if he was lucky.

Ivan left as soon as he thought Matthew was dead. Katyusha entered the room a little later with Natalia when she saw the door was open across the way. She screamed when she saw his state, but Natalia was the one who checked his heartbeat and pulse and heard firsthand that he was alive. They took him to the hospital, but Ivan found them in the waiting room and told them they were moving to Fou. He had panicked a little earlier when he saw blood on his hand and had another gap in his memory where he knew he felt fear and anger for… someone.

Katyusha and Natalia were forced to moving up to Fou, and they heard nothing about Matthew for several weeks. Finally, Natalia slipped away from the new house in Fou to check on Matthew. They had evicted him from the apartment, and so she picked up all of his things and either gave them away or burned them. She kept a large white bear, though, that had been Matthew's friend and confidante since his little sister's death. That was a gift for Katyusha.

She found him in the hospital, breathing normally, but in a deep coma. The doctors couldn't keep him in the hospital, so she was forced into taking him. She had nowhere to put him. No one would take a comatose boy, wrapped only in a blanket.

But she had bigger problems. The white-blonde was assaulted by a frantic Ivan, in another one of his fits. He forced her, out in the snow at the end of city limits, to drop the 'little lost stray' and come home. So she left him there, praying to whatever Gods were up in the clouds to take care of him.

So Matthew was left out in the snow for a about a day before, who should come dancing and singing a French-Canadian tune but housemates Arthur Kirkland and Alfred Jones.

Matthew was awoken by voices. At first he was confused and cold and so confused. He thought he was dead. But, as he opened his purple eyes, he noticed he really wasn't. Since he couldn't truly see anything, except a fuzzy form with… blonde hair… He remembered only the love he felt for a certain blonde woman… perhaps this was her? So he kissed the form, hoping… no. It was too much effort. Matthew fell back asleep, blacking out for a while.

When he woke up again, he was being watched by two blondes. He still could not see, and he was worried. Had he woken up blind? He felt like a baby who was just waking up to the world and… were these two his parents? Who was he? Where was he? Why was he full grown and why the hell couldn't he see? So many questions and so little time.

He could hardly even understand what his… parents? Oh well, he couldn't understand what his parents were saying. He tried speaking to them, and they just gave him tea and his glasses. When he put them on, he could see. Oh dear… his parents were both men. They looked at each other and one left for another room in the house.

A little later, Matthew realized that he had somehow lost his memory, that these two men weren't his parents, and that his name was Matthew. There was a bracelet on his arm that said so. Even later, Matthew met a French-speaker (apparently that was the language he had been speaking to his rescuers), and then he was going to live with… Arthur and Alfred.

And he still had no idea what had happened before he had woken up in the house…

Matthew Williams began to cry. Alfred held him for a good hour as he cried and cried and cried. "I remember! I remember! _Mon Dieu_! I _remember_!"

Francis held his hand and rubbed his thumb over the top. Arthur hugged both him and the French-Canadian. They did this for a good hour in the waiting room while the doctors were tending to a wounded Kiku. Katyusha and Natalia had gone to pick up Ludwig, thought Katyusha left with a heavy heart, seeing her ex-boyfriend in such a state.

_Ow. My heart. That would be it right there in my chest. Breaking._

_**Please review if you feel bad for Mattie!**  
_


	29. All The Things She Said

Chapter Twenty-Nine: All The Things She Said

It had been a few weeks since Matthew had regained all his memories, as well as about a week since Kiku had been discharged from the hospital. He had come home to a garden of flowers and get-well gifts from all his friends. As for Matthew? Well Ludwig had let him off of work for about a week, but he seemed to come back fine and ready to work after that short bit of time. Yao was beside himself in regret, and decided, to punish himself, he would visit Ivan with Katyusha every week, and soon, it was just Yao making the visits by himself, at his own request.

"Something's going on between them," Elizabeta said. Francis had let the Good Slash Forever Fangirl Alliance set up home in a secluded corner of the Rose Café, and the girls enjoyed watching over they're charges from there every lunch break.

"Ivan and Yao?" Heidi asked, scooting close to Sesel for a minute before blushing and thinking better of it. She scootched away and went back to her tea. "Uh… good."

Sesel squealed, "Jeez I hope so, it was Bella who saw Ivan kiss Yao, after all."

The girls were waiting for Natalia and Katyusha to come, along with Kiku, who was still bandaged and bruised, but the girls always fawned over him and made him feel better, much to Ludwig's chagrin. Kiku always went back to him, however.

"I hope they are…" Heidi said, just as Katyusha and Natalia entered with a bandaged Kiku.

The girl stood up and fawned for a good minute before Natalia pushed them off and pushed Kiku into Ludwig's sweaty (from working near a hot stove) chest. He winced a little as Ludwig hit a sore spot on Kiku's face, but Ludwig's big arms came around him softly and they snuggled for a second. The Good Slash Forever Fangirl Alliance squealed loudly, but Elizabeta stopped dead when she noticed Natalia was fishing for something in her pocket. Her Yaoi-eyes switched to Yuri-eyes; the Hungarian woman smiled at the white-blonde as Natalia tapped Katyusha's shoulder.

Katyusha turned to her girlfriend and gave her a big smile, "What is it, sweetie?" she asked.

"I…" Natalia seemed to want to back out of doing whatever she wanted to do right then. But then a knowing nod from Elizabeta pushed her to look back at her girlfriend. Natalia breathed in and took a small box out of her jacket. She then got on one knee and opened the box. The entire café was silent as Natalia composed herself and then asked, "Will you marry me, Kat?"

"Y-Yes! Nat, I will!" Katyusha yelled, hugging her now fiancé. They kissed briefly before wordless stares came, and they were out the door as fast as they had been in.

The other couples simply stared at one another.

Lovino sighed in his kitchen, trying desperately to cut tomatoes without taking his fingertips off. It had been only a few hours since Natalia had proposed to her lady love, but Lovino was sweating anyway. All the couples were sweating, but Lovino wasn't part of a couple, so he was sweating more. The proposal had been an eye-opener to Lovi.

His knife grazed his knuckles just a tad. "FUCK!" he yelled, pulling his knuckle away a little bit.

Heidi had just walked in. Lovino left his door unlocked since Feliciano didn't have a key yet, and probably would never get one. Heidi knew about this since it was her idea in the first place. She looked over Lovino's shoulder and sighed, "Never think and use sharp objects, it always gets you in trouble."

Lovino put the knife down and went to the bathroom to clean and bind the wound. There wasn't blood or anything serious about it, but it stung like hell. Heidi continued cutting Lovino's vegetables. She looked over the recipe (lasagna) and decided not to mess with Lovino's cooking. She sat down at the table instead.

"Are you stressed about love, Lovi?" Heidi asked when Lovino came back into the kitchen.

Lovino blushed and went right back to work, now placing the vegetables and pasta and other ingredients into his pan. "Y-y-y-yes," he replied.

"Will this speed your confession up?" Heidi then asked.

"Probably," Lovino replied. "How about you?"

"I've already confessed," Heidi replied, "I'm going over to her place in an hour."

Lovino stared at her. So Heidi had confessed to Sesel… so that left him alone in the single world. Except maybe for Vash.

"I would have had Sesel come over to my place since Vash is out with Roddy tonight—" Scratch that, "Oh! Yeah! Sesel and I got Vash together with Roderich! Anyway, Sesel wanted me to come over to her place because it looks like something is going to happen between Arthur and Francis that could speed up their relationship a bit more… so I'm going over there."

Shit. Shit. Double shit. Lovino was so screwed if he ever wanted to be happy.

"Am I making you nervous?" Heidi asked, her green eyes bright.

"A little… I think… I'll go over there tomorrow after… uhm… work. And… you know…" Lovi tried to get out.

Heidi smiled and stood. "I should go now. Have a good dinner."

"Have a nice… stakeout."

Feliciano looked over the TV menu and sighed. There was nothing worth watching. Wait… wait, wait, wait. There was an episode of _Gilmore Girls_ on the Family channel! Crisis adverted. He thought. Turns out, it was the proposal of Rory's teacher to Lorelei at the end of the first season. That immediately got Feliciano thinking about Natalia's proposal to Katyusha… and then Feliciano got depressed again.

He decided not to call anyone about it this time. He had come home from getting take-out from Café Monde, and he had seen Vash and Roderich there all ready. So all couples were accounted for. Except for him. And maybe Sesel and Heidi, but they were bound to find each other one of these days.

Feliciano glanced at the phone, shook his head, and turned to volume up on his television, as a new show came up. He didn't want to watch it, so he switched the channel to the USA channel, instead watching an interesting marathon of _NCIS_.

Matthew was looking out the window, watching the snow come down. Funny… it was almost the end of February and it was snowing, albeit lightly, outside, covering the dry ground once more with snow. Matthew was washing the dishes that night after a fairly quiet dinner with just Alfred.

Alfred was in the living room, getting the couch ready for another marathon of the _Gilmore Girls_ and then… naughty things, if he got his way. Matthew rolled his eyes and continued fiercely scrubbing the dishes used that night for their quiet dinner alone. Where was Arthur, you ask? He had been whisked away by Francis earlier that evening. For what, Matthew could only _guess_.

But, what had Matthew in such a quiet mood was the fact that his best friend and first girlfriend was getting _married_. Grant it, he was very happy for Kat and Nat. They had deserved this happiness, and with a little help from the Good Slash Forever Fangirl Alliance, she was getting _married_. But… now what? A wedding was being planned (Nat wanted Mattie to be one of the best men, along with Toris, who _had_ been one of their roommates in college along with the French-Canadian) and…

…And what?

_Matthew might have been a little jealous of Kat and Nat's good fortune_.

Kiku smiled at his girls as they twittered to each other. He was just starting to make them a celebratory dinner of sushi and rice balls when they entered the room. He was in the middle of making the first rice ball, so what they were twittering about wasn't about dinner.

"Kiku, darling…" Katyusha whined lightly, taking his hand.

He smiled at her, noticing that she had missed touching his broken finger. "What is it, Katyusha?"

"We've been talking, and, since my dear brother is indisposed… well, there is no one else I would rather have _give_ _me away_, but you know how brotherly Ivan was to me. What I am saying is… Would you do me the honor of giving me away at our wedding?" Katyusha asked.

Kiku's heart swelled. He knew what Katyusha was saying was that Kiku was her first choice, since Ivan had kind of been dropped out of the family upon the girls moving in with him _anyway_. He was honored that he would be able to give his little Katyusha away. "I'll do it. Congratulations, you two…" Kiku replied.

The girls smiled at him and at once began helping the wounded Japanese man prepare the rice balls for dinner.

But something popped in the back of his head. Kind of like a timer dinging when the oven is hot, he knew he was ready for something. Ready for… intimacy. Intimacy with someone he loved very much, and he was sure that that person loved him just as much. Funny how it had taken the idea for a lesbian wedding for Kiku to see that Ludwig was… the One, and that it was time for them to consummate their relationship…

Arthur has been pensive the whole night at Francis's. He was waiting for that moment where he would just burst out crying or something. Francis had shooed Sesel out of the house promptly at seven so he could prepare something that sounded (and tasted) vaguely French by himself, with no help from his 'African birdie.' And from the looks of it, Sesel had a date as well.

_Is that Vash's little sister?_ The Brit thought as he saw Sesel meet up with a little (looking) blonde girl in the middle of Francis's walkway.

He has shaken off the feeling that this was something involving the Good Slash Forever Fangirl Alliance and let Francis serve him a meal that looked like salmon and noodles.

During dinner they tried to make conversation, but it all pittered out into nothing. Finally, Arthur started with something that was hanging on both their minds. "Katyusha and Natalia are getting married."

"Yes, they are. I'm very happy for them," Francis replied. He had had a hand in getting the two together, in his own special way, but it was Natalia's almost mannish spirit that had landed them in this new, special position.

"I am too… but…" Arthur shouldn't have trailed off, because Francis almost jumped down his throat.

"You are jealous?"

"No—Yes. No. I'm not jealous of them. And before you say anything, I'm not jealous of their relationship, either."

"All right. But there is something on you mind that only came to your mind after Nat proposed," Francis replied.

"O-Oka—Yes. There is," Arthur replied, blushing lightly, "I… want to know where we stand."

"We stand together, _mon petit lapin_," Francis replied, setting his cutlery down and gazing at his lover with wary blue eyes.

"I know… but… Katyusha and Natalia have gotten much further than us in the two months they've been going out…" the Brit told Francis, looking off to the side.

"Is _l'amour_ a race to you, Arthur?" Francis asked, crooking his head to one side. It wasn't as if he was angry with the suggestion… just curious.

"NO! God, no. I'm just pointing something out," Arthur replied.

There was a tight silence as Arthur picked at his food, his appetite gone in an instant, his stomach too busy tying into knots and doing back flips at this point. France finally spoke: "They had been living together since college, though…"

"Katyusha and Natalia?" Arthur asked, quick as a chess-clock thumper.

"No, Dorothy and Blanche," Francis replied, getting a little snippy.

"I—was that a _Golden Girls_ reference?" Arthur asked, doing a (rather cute) double take.

"Yes. Ludwig reminded me of our glory days as the Golden Girls of high school…"

"Ah, yes. I remember those days," Arthur replied, just as Francis jumped in with: "Move in with me?"

It took Arthur a minute to sift through his words and figure out why Francis was looking at him expectantly, and Sesel and Heidi fell out of the closet, gasping lightly. Something about they're state of dress told Arthur that they hadn't been fondling each other in that closet.

"Live… with you?" Arthur asked, now ignoring the girls to gaze at his boyfriend's face.

"Yes. Live with me. I'm sure your present housemates won't mind…"

"Alfred and Matthew would welcome my move but… Francis… are you sure?" Arhut asked, his food going cold.

"I'm so sure, Arthur, I got you your very own key…" Francis replied, taking the shiny gold piece out and placing it on the table next to Arthur's untouched wine glass.

"Then… then I'll… I'll move in with you," Arthur said, staring off to the side with a dark red blush on his face and a hint of a lovesick smile on his face.

_Can you tell I have a little bias with my lesbian couple? As for Francis and Arthur ROFL. Just let me have my fun._

_**Please review!**_

_Ana**  
**_


	30. My Brother's Keeper

Chapter Thirty: My Brother's Keeper

_NCIS_ and whatever was on after that (he had watched at least half a marathon of _NCIS_ and then one episode of the show after that… _Law and Order: Special Victims Unit_, perhaps) later and Feliciano wasn't feeling any better about himself. So he went to bed early, and woke up early as well.

He was at work right as Ludwig was unlocking the café doors. "Something the matter, Feli? You're usually the _last_ one here…"

Feliciano put on the best smile that he could and replied, "Naw… just thought I'd try and get here earlier than usual, is all. Can't you tell? Spring is in the air!" he chirped convincingly.

Ludwig paused for a moment, and then chuckled to himself, letting the Italian go in before him.

Feliciano tried his best to stay cheerful even when Lovino arrived a few minutes after Arthur and Francis. There was some news at lunch from the Good Slash Forever Fangirl Alliance, and Arthur and Francis were forced into confessing that they were moving in together. Matthew and Alfred all ready knew of this, and were no doubt secretly pleased and sad about the fact. Pleased that they finally would have the house to themselves, and sad because, come _on_, they would be losing their precious Queen of England!

Feliciano came home drained of any real emotion, and just went through his usual movements of preparing dinner. A few minutes in to his zombie-like preparing techniques, he heard a knock on the door and became a living person again. (The color even returned to his paled face.)

"Coming~" he yelled, running around his counter to the door.

Upon opening it, he saw a bouquet of roses. Knowing that bouquets of roses didn't just sprout legs and start walking, he gently pushed the flowers down, revealing a face he never thought he'd see in any light but awkward and somewhat mad at him for some unknown reason.

"Hey, Lovi," Feliciano said, quite surprised.

"Hey, Feli," Lovino replied, smiling awkwardly.

Feliciano pulled him inside (it was still freezing) and shut the door before taking the flowers from Lovino. "Are these for me?" and after the dark-haired Sicilian nodded shyly, "They're beautiful!"

Lovino cleared his throat and moved close to the smaller boy, "This is for you, too," he said quickly before giving Feliciano a chaste kiss on the mouth.

Before Lovi could pull away, Feliciano deepened the kiss, moaning a little into it, which aroused Lovino a little bit. Feliciano pulled away, licking the side of his mouth a little bit with a look of innocence in his bright brown eyes. "Thank you…" he murmured.

Then he sniffed, "Ah~ Would you like some pasta alfredo, Lovino?" he asked, hurrying back into the kitchen area as his water boiled.

Lovino blinked. _From kissing me to cooking dinner?_ But he smiled anyway and nodded, sitting on one of the stools near the counter that separated the kitchen from the fake dining room.

After dinner, Lovino and Feliciano sat on the couch. It had started out a little awkward, with Lovino and Feliciano at opposite sides of the couch, but then Feliciano seemed to get a little braver, and he began moving inch by inch until he was sitting next to Lovino, their knees touching slightly and blushes creeping on their faces.

There was no fire to stare at, as it was nearing the spring equinox, so Feliciano flicked his eyes on his companion's face for a moment before he moved a hand under Lovino's chin and pulled his face so that Lovino was looking back at him. Lovino's face flushed deeply, but Feliciano simply smiled and pressed their lips together. After a few moments, Lovino pressed back, gently putting his arms around the other boy's waist. _It's a wonder you're not fat from all the Italian food you eat, Feli_.

"I know you came here to tell me something…" Feli murmured as they parted, his lips still millimeters away from Lovi's.

Lovino blinked, his dark eyes flickering.

Feliciano went on, "The flowers, the kiss? It didn't feel like the usual 'Hey-you're-my-brother-so-we'll-hang-out-and-stuff' thing we've been doing…" he said, a hint of teasing in his light brown eyes.

Lovino looked down at his hands as they came up from Feliciano's waist and began playing with a button on Feliciano's uniform (he hadn't changed when he came home from work, Lovino guessed). "No… I came here because… Because I've realized something."

"Oh?"

"Well… Everyone's coupled up now… and there have been some major leaps in relationships… Nat and Kat… and now Arthur and Francis… and in those and because of those… I've realized that… that I love you, Feliciano. And not… not the way we were supposed to back when Marcus was still alive…"

Feliciano smiled, "And I love you too. I've always loved you. And I think I've loved in a the way a brother really shouldn't since you took me to the Prom…" Feliciano replied, putting his thumb and first finger over Lovino's, helping him snap open the first button on his shirt.

Lovino was surprised, both at Feliciano's simple action with his first button, and also at his confession. Feliciano watched Lovino's eyes widen slightly, and began moving closer to close the gap between their lips again. "Is this wrong? We're brothers, aren't we?" Lovino suddenly asked.

"You were free to go when Marcus died, Lovino…" Feliciano replied, his breath warm on Lovino's lips, "We're technically not brothers anymore…" and with that said, Feliciano kissed Lovino again.

The kiss became deeper and deeper until Lovino was pinned under Feliciano. Feliciano's hands dragged over Lovino's torso, making the older male shiver and moan into the kiss. The younger Italian stopped his hand on Lovino's first button, and, like a natural, had all of Lovino's buttons undone and the shirt pulled off in a matter of seconds. Lovino pulled in breath audibly as Feliciano let go of his lips to pull Lovi's shirt off.

Smirking lightly, the younger boy began to place gentle, feathered kisses all down Lovino's chest, lapping at his nipples like a snake smelling for prey. His hands once more dragged against Lovi's bare skin until the other was whimpering slightly, and Feli had a hand on the top button of Lovino's pants.

"Feliiiiiii…" Lovino whined.

"Do you want me, Lovino?" Feliciano asked, those innocent eyes appearing again.

Lovino simply flushed again, "D-d-dammit, Feliciano. I _love_ you. If I didn't _want_ you, then I'd be a terrible liar as well as a terrible lover!"

Feliciano smiled, kissing Lovino just under his navel before he undid the button on Lovi's pants in record time…

_Nope. No sex for you._

_Just know that they are. Having a good time. On the couch. Without any clothes on. -shot-_

_**Please review! 3 chapters left and then... I have a sequel for j00! (okay... not a 'real' sequel, but close enough .)**_

_Ana**  
**_


	31. Ready, Set, GO!

Chapter Thirty-One: Ready, Set, GO!

Kiku was a little nervous about approaching Ludwig like this, but he needed to do it. Ludwig was the One, the One he wanted to share his most valued possession with. Besides, all his wounds were healed (just got the bandages off yesterday) so he was absolutely ready for some… intimacy.

And he had heard the chimes outside Ludwig's window and had grown new confidence in this strange mission. Besides, if Lovino and Feliciano could do it, then surely Kiku had to give up his virginity one of these days. (Not saying Feli or Lovi were virgins to begin with before… last night.)

Kiku knocked carefully on the door and who should open it but Gilbert. _Oh no… this might be harder than I thought_… Kiku thought.

"Aww… LITTLE BROTHER! YOUR LITTLE KIKI BIRD IS HERE!" Gilbert shouted, nearly bursting Kiku's ear drums.

Kiku put his hands over his ears cutely just as Ludwig came down the stairs.

"Kiku, what are you doing here?" Ludwig asked, now ushering the smaller Asian male inside.

"I just… wanted to talk," Kiku said, nervous now that he knew Gilbert was here. _Oh, Eliza… if you're a psychic, please here my call and come take Gilbert away…_ he prayed. The wind-chime tinkled lightly in a slow, spring breeze, as if answering his prayer. It neither soothed nor worried him, however.

Ludwig took him to the kitchen, and Gilbert went back up to his room.

"What's up?" Ludwig asked, knowing that Kiku wanted some… ah, privacy.

Kiku looked down at his shoes for a brief moment before he decided it was best to look at his boyfriend's face. "I… I'm…" he felt like he was choking on his words.

"You're… moving? You're… something to do with your girls?" Ludwig prompted. "If you tell me you're pregnant, I might have to pitch a fit," Ludwig added, trying to make it into a joke. His usual hardness seemed to melt with Kiku around, _that_ was for sure.

"No! No! Nothing like that… I'm just…" Kiku pouted his lips a little and took Ludwig's large hand up in his two tiny ones, "… I'm ready."

Ludwig was slightly confused, "Ready for what?"

"Ready… uhh… Ludwig. You're… the One…" Kiku replied.

Ludwig thought for a moment, then his cheeks flushed when he finally got it. "You… want to take this relationship to the next level?"

Kiku simply nodded, his cheeks reddening at an almost dangerous degree.

Ludwig smiled, now placing his big hand over Kiku's so that he was holding both of Kiku's hands. He leaned down slowly and kissed Kiku. It was Kiku's first kiss with Ludwig, and as chaste as it was, Kiku felt himself put his arms around Ludwig's neck to deepen the kiss. After a few moments, Ludwig pulled away. "If we want to do this, then we're going to have to get rid of Gilbert."

Kiku took his phone out, "The Good Slash Forever Fangirl Alliance can help with that…" he replied, dialing the President's number.

"What?" Elizabeta asked, "I'm in the middle of a meeting!"

"Check your caller ID next time, Eliza," Kiku quipped.

"Kiku, darling! How are you?"

"I'm fine. Am I calling at a bad time?"

"Well… the girls and I are having a meeting about if we should add 'and Femmslash' to our name, but otherwise, no. Why?"

"I'm with Ludwig at his house and… we need Gilbert-"

"Oh. Oh!" Eilza said. Kiku could _hear_ her grinning at the other end. "You need me to come and take Gilbert away so you two can… _consummate your relationship?_"

Kiku blushed, "That would be very nice if you would…"

"Fine. But you owe me."

"I knew you would say that. I'll have something for you on your birthday that will knock your socks off."

"Thanks darling. I'll be there in a jiffy!"

It was about twenty minutes before the Hungarian-born girl arrived at the door. Gilbert was surprised, but pleased, that she was there. He smiled and kissed her softly before she pulled him outside, "Come on. I promised Katyusha and Natalia that I would go shopping for brides-maid dresses with her and a few of the other girls. The whole club is Kat's brides-maids, can you believe it? And only Toris and Matthew are Nat's best men. But I like the small wedding feel. Come on, I'll buy you dinner afterwords!" Eliza said, dragging the albino out to her car, winking at Kiku and Ludwig.

After a few moments of light shock, Ludwig got up and closed the door, beckoning Kiku to follow him up the stairs. He vowed in his head to be gentle with Kiku, as Kiku was still a virgin, and anything heavy might scare him.

Kiku got up from the couch, blushing still, and took Ludwig's hand, allowing him to lead him up the stairs and into his bedroom. Ludwig closed his bedroom door and Kiku stood there dumbly, the back of his legs against the foot of the bed.

Ludwig chuckled at how shy and inexperienced Kiku was, and approached him very carefully, putting his hands on Kiku's hips as he kissed Kiku's lips very, _very_ carefully. Kiku once more put his arms around Ludwig's neck and deepened the kiss.

Ludwig moved his hands up under Kiku's shirt, causing Kiku to hiss out softly, breaking the kiss. Ludwig smiled as he lifted Kiku's shirt over his shoulders and threw it off to the side. Kiku was still blushing as he looked over his torso before moving his dark eyes to Ludwig's chest. He put his hands on Ludwig's top button and shakily tried to unbutton the top button. His hands were shaking so bad that Ludwig finally, still with a hint of a smile on his face, put his hands over Kiku's and helped him unbutton all the buttons on the shirt. Together, they cast the shirt off to the side, and kissed each other once more.

Ludwig suddenly lowered both of them down on the bed, carefully straddling the smaller male under him. Kiku blushed as they pulled away for breath, but then again, he had wanted this.

"I love you, Ludwig," Kiku said quickly, as his lips were vacant and he felt Ludwig's hands at the button of his jeans.

"I know," Ludwig replied, kissing Kiku's jaw-line just as he slid Kiku's jeans down, dropping them next to the bed. "I love you too."

_I'm such a tease, aren't I?_

_I probably should warn you that have the sequel to this thing already planned out. 'Sequel' being the operative word. It's more a continuation of the same setting, only I'm basing in Fou with everyone who lives there instead of Monde, were _Chanson d'Hiver_ has been staged. Anyway, the 'sequel' is called _The Last Stand of Toris Lorinaitis_, and it focuses on Lithuania and his budding relationship with Poland. Should be good. Oh, and copious amounts of Yao/Ivan and another big gay wedding (not tellin' you whose!) at the end. Because, really, where would my stories be without a big gay wedding?_

_Hope to see you there!_

_Also, **please review~!**_

_Ana**  
**_


	32. Thawing

Chapter Thirty-Two: Thawing

The count-down to the wedding was set, now, at one week. This time next week, Matthew would be standing next to Toris, watching as his first girlfriend and best friend got married to the love of her life, the wedding being Skyped to Ivan and Yao in Ivan's cell over at the mental home in Fou.

Kiku would be giving Kat away, walking her down the isle. Toris was assigned to walk Bella down the aisle, while Matthew was assigned Heidi. Francis was the minister, and Arthur was assigned to take Sesel down the aisle and sit in the front row. Gilbert had the same route with Elizabeta. All they needed was the colors and the catering, even though the reception was at the Café Rose.

But Matthew wasn't thinking about the wedding. He was staring contemplatively at his boyfriend, who was snoring lightly on the couch. He wondered where they stood. Sure, they lived alone together now and had all the privacy they wanted. Alfred was kind to him and loving and all things Matthew had wanted in his relationship. He just didn't know some key elements: Should _they_ get married? Even if it was way in the future, Matthew wanted to feel special to Alfred.

Matthew finally moved from the doorway to the kitchen and sat down next to Alfred. Alfred was startled awake, but as soon as he realized it was Matthew, he gave the French-Canadian a smile.

"Hey, Mattie. What's up?" he asked.

"Not much. I still can't believe Her Majesty left us…"

"Yeah, well… she's in love with the French King, so they decided to run off together," Alfred replied, chuckling.

Matthew smiled for a minute before he remembered what he wanted to talk to Alfred about. "Uhm… Alfred?"

"Yeah?"

"Where… where do we stand?" Matthew asked.

Alfred looked shocked. "Well… we're sitting right now… but if you want to stand at the foot of the stairs, I can stand at the kitchen door, and then we'd have covered more ground…" he said.

Matthew glared at him slightly, "Don't be cute right now, Alfred."

"I can't help being cute! It's an extra gene my father gave me!" Alfred replied, really panicking now.

Matthew rolled his eyes and stood up, "Look, if you're not willing to communicate with me, then I don't want to be around you anymore. Call me when you actually want to talk…"

And with that, he went up to his room (or Arthur's old bedroom) and slammed the door. Alfred followed him a few seconds later, knocking on the door. "Mattie! I don't know what to say!"

He listened for a moment, hearing rustling and zipping and unzipping and finally footsteps coming toward the door. Matthew opened the door, in his hand a small duffle. "I'm going over to Feliciano's. Only talk to me when you have something to say to me that isn't funny."

And with that, he left.

Alfred spent the rest of the weekend moping. When he finally dragged his butt to work on Monday, Matthew ignored him. And Alfred figured out quickly that he could not live without Matthew. So he did the best thing he could for himself.

He visited his old housemate, Arthur.

Sesel was the one who opened the door. But as soon as Francis noticed the depressed look and the fevered blue eyes searching out for Arthur, Francis ushered Alfred inside and into the living room, where Arthur was looking over some bills.

"Alfred!" Arthur said, "What's wrong?"

"Matthew won't talk to me, if you haven't already figured that out," Alfred replied glumly.

"I _have_ noticed, but you haven't actually spoken to him either…" Arthur replied, putting the piece of paper down on the coffee table.

Francis came in with a tray of cups, no doubt a job Sesel was to do, as she glared at her master from the kitchen. Francis ignored her as he set down a teapot and three cups, one filled with coffee. Ah, Alfred had missed Arthur's tea.

Arthur poured his friend and himself a cup, handing one to Alfred and then picking up his own. "Want to talk about it, or did you just come here for the company?"

"Both, really. Matthew asked… he asked where we stood and I… freaked out, as I usually do…" Alfred explained.

"Ah… I remember that well," Arthur replied, "But you seem to have grown up about it, if you realize that sometimes you can be a complete ass."

Francis scoffed into his coffee, "_Cheri_, you're really no help."

"I know," Arthur said, "It took me a while to realize that you were my love, didn't I?" he asked of the Frenchman.

Alfred rolled his eyes a little, but stopped acting like a teenager with his lovey-dovey parents when Francis cleared his throat to speak. "Matthew wants to know that you are willing to go above and beyond for him. He wants to know that you are indeed the better choice for him."

Alfred blinked, "So… he's having second thoughts about us as a couple?"

Arthur nodded, "That's the best diagnosis we can offer you."

"The treatment is simple. Talk to him. Remind him of your affections. Communication is the key to every relationship, whether between old friends," here Francis paused to look from Arthur to Alfred, "or to a couple."

Alfred nodded slowly, drinking the rest of the cup before setting down carefully and standing. There was a slight showdown between them, neither knowing what exactly to do. Finally, on her way to the door, Sesel simply pushed Alfred into Arthur, the Brit having to stand and catch the America so they shared a brief hug before Sesel lead Alfred back to the door.

"Are you and Mattie doing all right?" she asked in her thick accent.

"We'll be fine by Kat and Nat's wedding on Saturday," Alfred replied.

Lovino, Feliciano and Matthew were playing a rather tedious game of Monopoly (so far, Lovino was taking money illegally from the bank, as he was also the banker, and Feliciano owned the most real estate. Matthew had gone to jail five or six times and he was seriously behind on his taxes) when Alfred knocked on the door.

Matthew, several boxes behind Lovino and Feliciano, got up and opened the door. He had forgotten to look through the peephole or any of the windows, as he was simply having too much fun (even though he was losing hardcore to the Italians).

"Oh…" Matthew said, and nearly slammed the door on Alfred's face, but the American put a hand on the door and his strength was too much for the French-Canadian.

"I'm here to talk seriously, Mattie," Alfred replied.

Matthew looked back at his friend and friend's boyfriend before grabbing a sweatshirt and following Alfred outside.

The first thing Alfred did was sweep Matthew up in his arms and kiss him. The next was, "I love you."

Matthew blinked at him dazedly, "I… love you too…"

"And we stand right here. Together," Alfred went on to say.

"Together?" Matthew asked, still a little shocked.

"Yes. Mattie… I've wanted to be yours since I met you! How many times do I have to say it? If you wanted me to leave the country with you, I would. If you killed somebody, I would hide you in the basement until the police called the case unsolved. I would do anything for you."

Matthew blinked and Alfred saw tears form in the corner of the violet-blue pools he had fallen in so long ago.

"I love you too. And… I'm sorry for freaking out…"

"It's okay. Do you want to come home now?"

"Yes," Matthew replied, and kissed Alfred before running back inside to get his stuff and thank Feliciano for keeping him sheltered.

_One more chapter to go~ And then a sequel._

_Don't forget about **Clowns** and the sequel to **My Junk**, those are still being worked on, even though this one is winding down._

_Wow... it took a long time for me to finish this one. Not like the five months it too to finish **My Junk**._

_**Please review~!**_

_Ana**  
**_


	33. Spring

Chapter Thirty-Three: Spring

The day of the wedding had dawned, and there was sunshine in the air as well as in sky. Toris had arrived the night before and was already awake when Kiku came into the living room. Kat was staying at Matthew's so that Nat couldn't see the bride, as was the tradition ("Even though both of them are the bride, right?" Toris had asked. Kiku had nodded and smiled as he had put the last icing details on the cake.)

The wedding went by quickly, Matthew having to use Toris's handkerchief many times during Francis's sermon. When Katysha and Natalia had kissed, the brides-maids had burst into tears and clapping, hugging both brides and anyone else in the vicinity. They had all filed out again to the back of the church, and everyone had made their way to the Café Rose for the reception.

The music was Katyusha's iPod on shuffle, but there was some good dance music, and Katyusha and Natalia indeed began the traditional wedding dance after some alcohol and some good food prepared by Alfred and Ludwig in the kitchen.

"I'm so happy," Katyusha told her wife as they danced alone for the first ten seconds of the song.

Natalia smiled, "I'm so glad. I'm so happy you're so happy."

"Don't quote _Into the Woods_ anymore, and I'll be the happiest woman in Monde," Katyusha warned.

Alfred and Matthew began dancing next, Matthew having been in the wedding party. Toris went ahead a few minutes after Alfred and Matthew, with Bella.

"They're beautiful," Alfred said as Sesel and Heidi follwed Toris and Bella on to the dance floor.

"The brides? Or Sesel and Heidi?" Matthew asked.

"Well.. they all are. All the girls, all the boys, all the couples. Everyone. But especially you…" Alfred said, looking at his boyfriend expectantly.

Matthew blushed and looked over at Gilbert leading Eliza onto the floor. "You think we'll ever get married, Alfie?"

"One of these days. When I stop being an asshole. I'm working on it," Alfred replied.

And Matthew simply kissed him as they danced off the floor and into some chairs at the nearest table.

"Come on, Lovi! Let's go dance!" Feliciano said, tugging at his boyfriend's arm.

Lovino grumbled and gave Ludwig a glare saying _We're in this together, ask your boyfriend to dance or so help me I will feed you your balls to you for breakfast._

Ludwig glanced at Kiku and bowed slightly, offering his hand. Kiku blushed and took it after looking around to see if anyone had seen that. (The Good Slash Forever Fangirl Alliance had.)

"We're so lucky," Feliciano said to Kiku as they began slow dancing with their respective partners.

"How? We're not the ones going on a honeymoon to Marseille, France in a couple hours…" Kiku replied, but he was smiling.

"No… we're so lucky to be with our loves, dancing with several of our friends. We're blessed that Kat and Nat could get married with nothing going wrong in their plans. They should be so blessed…" Feliciano explained.

"I feel blessed," Lovino said.

"Yeah? And why's that, Lovi?" Ludwig asked.

"Because I'm here with Feliciano," Lovino said, kissing the younger Italian.

"You _are_ the typical Italian," Ludwig replied, rolling his eyes.

"They're beautiful. My little Ukrainian princess and her Belorussian prince," Francis cooed as he sipped his champagne. Though he had been the minister, he didn't want to go out dancing. Arthur grinned from next to him.

"Who are they if we're all part of our own _Gilmore Girls_ spin-off?"

"Sookie and Jackson?" Francis asked, pointing to the couple in question with the pinky on the hand that gripped the champagne glass.

"Good point. But you just called them your little ones…"

"… In my mind, I am the French King, you are my little English princess, and Katyusha is my adopted child. A princess from Ukraine…"

"You have one wild imagination…"

"This from the boy who swore he was a pirate until he was fifteen."

"Damn straight. Get me a sandwich or walk the plank, wench," Arthur said, pretending to have Francis at gunpoint.

"Another time, my Pirate King. For now… why don't we elope?" Francis suddenly said.

"Sure—wait, what?" Her Highness asked.

"Marry me? Right this minute. There's a church up in Fou that won't charge us for same-day appointments…"

"Do you think anything through?" Arthur asked, but a softened smile spread on his lips.

"No… but this wedding got me thinking—" Francis was stopped by a kiss from Arthur.

When they parted, Arthur got up and said, "I'll talk to the girls."

"Make sure they don't tell anyone else, all right?" Francis asked.

Arthur nodded, and he disappeared into the crowd. A few minutes later, he returned and Francis was up on his feet.

"You have the keys?" Arthur asked.

Francis dug in his pockets, fished out the keys to his car, and they were both at the door in a second. Katyusha and Natalia waved from the edge of the dance floor, Katyusha winking at the couple as they left the café and went out to the car.

_Last chapter! Sequel should be up in a few days. It's called **The Last Stand of Toris Lorinaitis. **Hope to see you there._

_Ana  
_


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